| This dissertation studied teacher involvement in preservice teacher education and examined the views of inservice teachers on presrvice teacher education. It presented six strategies for increasing teacher involvement in the research and practice of preservice teacher education based upon the research literature. It found that research in the field of preservice teacher education heavily involved preservice teachers while the involvement of inservice teachers and their ideas were quite limited. Finally, this dissertation examined the views of inservice teachers on a variety of topics and issues in preservice teacher education through survey and interview methodologies.;The survey was sent to a random sample of Wisconsin middle and high school teachers. It included ten sections and asked inservice teachers about their own preservice teacher education experience, current preservice teacher education, cooperative teachers, extended field experience, professional development schools, standards-based preservice teacher education, alternative certification options, K-12 teaching experience of teacher educators, involving practicing teachers in preservice teacher education, and other recommendations for preservice teacher education. The survey found that 79% of teachers had a good, very good, or excellent preservice teacher education experience and 75% rated current preservice teacher education as good, very good, or excellent. The most common dissatisfaction with current preservice teacher education was the need for more practical preparation. Of the teachers surveyed, 12% believed preservice teacher education was mostly irrelevant and 13% felt unprepared for their first year of teaching.;The survey was followed by interviews of eight teachers from the survey sample purposively selected to represent a variety of viewpoints. The interviews were transcribed and coded. From the coded transcripts, themes were identified to create a framework for understanding and explaining the teachers' views expressed in both the survey and interviews. The analysis produced eight themes or ideas that teachers emphasized throughout the interviews: realistic preparation, field experience, classroom management, content preparation, group psychology, professionalism, respect, and student teachers. The most commonly identified themes were realistic preparation and field experience. These two themes provided a strong indication of what teachers valued most in preservice teacher education. |
