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The relationship between cognitive developmental level and the concerns of teachers
Abstract
Against a backdrop of pressure for change in teacher education (Carnegie Forum, 1986; Holmes Group Report, 1986; United Kingdom White Paper, 1983) Feiman-Nemser and Floden (1986) produced a comprehensive review of research in the area of teacher education. Amongst other issues, they identified three broad areas of teacher development--"A model of changes in teacher concerns, a model based on cognitive-developmental theories, and a style of inservice education emphasizing teachers' own perceptions of their needs." (Feiman-Nemser and Floden, 1986, p.522). Since the first two approaches seemed to possess some common characteristics in that Fuller's (1969) stages of teacher concern were similar to cognitive-developmental stages, it was decided to try to establish whether there was any relationship between cognitive-developmental stage level, and the levels of concern expressed by teachers. As this study was regarded as an initial exploration of the topic, and as empirical studies in the area had produced confusing results, it was seen as an appropriate project for a qualitative approach to research. Accordingly, two groups of volunteers (12 experienced teachers from a Massachusetts elementary school, and 10 education seniors from the School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst) were administered David Hunt's (1978) Paragraph Completion Method (PCM) and George's (1978) Teacher Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ). On the basis of Conceptual Level scores, four students and four teachers were chosen for follow-up interviews, and the interview data collated and analyzed. The results of this analysis showed that cognitive-developmental level does affect the profiles of concerns of teachers, and it can be inferred from the study that it also affects the patterns of change of teachers' concerns. The results also cast some doubt on the validity of the TCQ instrument.
Subject Area
Teacher education|Elementary education
Recommended Citation
Nisbet, Richard Ian, "The relationship between cognitive developmental level and the concerns of teachers" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9110198.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9110198