PREFERRED EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF SELECTED TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

This study examined educational philosophies of various groups of teacher education students at the University of Idaho. The students were examined on perennialism, idealism, realism, experimentalism and existentialism. The Preferred Educational Philosophy Instrument of Wiles and Bondi was adapted for use in this study. Demographic variables studied included; type (public or private) of school attended, sex, preferred level of teaching and type of school system in which the students would prefer to teach. Students in the beginning teacher education class (Ed201) and students in the last class taken prior to student teaching (Ed445) were examined.;The recommendations of the study were: (1) It is recommended that a longitudinal study be undertaken to determine if philosophic change does occur in teacher education students. In this study a researcher may wish to also test other university students to determine if a change is due to the teacher education program. (2) It is recommended that further work be done to determine if the College of Education has philosophic goals and if so, what they are. The educational philosophy of the teacher education students could be compared to these goals, if such goals were in evidence. (3) It is recommended that further work be done to explore the differences in philosophy between elementary and secondary majors. (4) It is recommended that further work explore the differences in educational philosophy in students entering the program from private schools and those entering the program from public schools. (5) It is recommended that an instrument be developed on educational philosophy that collects its data from the classroom performance of a teacher. This instrument could be compared to the Preferred Educational Philosophy Instrument.;Conclusions of the study were: (1) Idealism was found to be the philosophy that distinguished between the groups on most occasions. Of the seven hypotheses where significant differences were found, idealism accounted for these differences in six. In five of the six, idealism and one or more other philosophy, accounted for the differences between the two groups. (2) The philosophy realism did not contribute significantly in any of the hypotheses. (3) The Ed201 class was more homogeneous in regard to educational philosophy than was the Ed445 class. The hypotheses that tested subgroups within these classes produced consistent results. In the Ed201 class, males and females were similar in regard to educational philosophy. Those Ed201 students who preferred to teach at the elementary or secondary level were also similar in regard to their educational philosophy. However in the Ed445 class, males and females were significantly different on three educational philosophies. Those Ed445 students who chose to teach at the elementary or secondary level were also significantly different in regard to their educational philosophy. (4) The comparisons between groups concerning those students who attended private schools and those who attended public schools, provided interesting results. The former private school students in both groups held similar educational philosophies. The former public school students differed significantly on the philosophies of idealism and experimentalism. The Ed201 group was higher on both philosophies. It may be of value to study the groups longitudinally to determine if one of there groups is more or less resistant to changes in their educational philosophy.