A Case Study On The Influence Of Teaching Practicum On English M.Ed.Interns' Classroom Management Self-efficacy(CMSE)

The topic of teacher professional development has been highlighted for a very long time.Teachers' self-efficacy has a positive influence on their professional commitment,emotional state and professional competence.As a necessary component of teacher efficacy,classroom management self-efficacy(CMSE)occupies a momentous place on teacher behavior and student outcome.Teachers who are confident about classroom management will potentially adopt effective teaching strategies and maintain the smoothness of teaching.However,most teachers are unwilling to spend time in improving their ability of classroom management,which makes them feel unprepared and worried when facing classroom issues.Practicum is regarded as a strong indicator of improving student teachers'efficacy.For the purpose of preparing M.Ed.students to transit to professional teachers successfully,universities have taken different measures to optimize the teaching practicum.The teaching practicum provides student teachers with an opportunity to touch the real teaching,which is indispensable to their future development.However,most recent researches have been confined to investigate in-service teachers' CMSE.The changes of pre-service teachers' CMSE during practicum are usually neglected.And most researchers only use questionnaires to test teachers,level of CMSE.Thus,it is necessary to conduct a qualitative research on pre-service teachers' CMSE and the influence of practicum.The present study aims to discuss the relationship of teaching practicum and English M.Ed.interns' CMSE and elaborate possible factors during practicum resulting in the change of their CMSE.Two researcher questions are to be answered:(1)Has the English M.Ed.interns' CMSE changed during the practicum?If yes,how has it changed during the practicum?(2)What are the possible factors during the practicum that may contribute to the results of English M.Ed.interns' CMSE?In order to answer these questions,the author conducts a case study.Four female English M.Ed.interns from the same practicum school are chosen as participants.The data is collected through semi-structured interview,classroom observation and object gathering.Through analyzing the data and reviewing the preview literature,the autor divides CMSE into four themes:resource organization(including materials arrangement,teaching aids utilization and time management),instructions and procedures establishment,student engagement,and behavior management.The major findings of the study are summarized as follows.(1)After teaching practicum,English M.Ed.interns' CMSE has changed.Generally speaking,the teaching practicum has positive effect on English M.Ed.interns' CMSE.(2)English M.Ed.interns' efficacy on arranging materials,utilizing teaching aids,establishing instructions and procedures,and engaging students has improved significantly.Intern's efficacy on time and behavior management hasn't showed obvious change.Some interns have serious problems with time and behavior management even after the practicum.(3)Various factors affect English M.Ed.interns' CMSE during practicum.They are mentors,peers,students,schools,individual differences,and attribution.Therein,mentors and peers exert the greatest effect.(4)There is a special case:only one intern's level of CMSE hasn't changed too much and her level of efficacy on some themes is lower than other interns.The unapparent change mainly results from her poor spoken English,incorrect ways of attribution and lack of communications with mentors.