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Mature adults becoming teachers: Sailing toward Ithaka
Abstract
My research was an eighteen-month study of how mature, college-educated adults (age range 24-56, professional experience diverse) transformed themselves from the men and women who entered a small, independent, field-based teacher preparation program in August into effective, state-certified teachers by the following June. The study continued into the next school year, tracing further development of each of the originally selected nine intern teachers, seven in their own classrooms, two, finally, in other chosen roles. The research was an interpretive study, combining the use of questionnaires, classroom observation, selections from journals, and in-depth interview/discussions with each of the nine participants at four times during the eighteen months. The interns' own assessments of the time in different classroom settings with children/young adults and experienced mentor teachers, were that the extensive daily experiences were pivotal in moving them toward a perception of self as teacher. This perception represents an aspect of human development described by Piaget as decalage, by Kegan as the whole becoming a part of a new whole, by Perry as commitment in relativism. Learning of this depth and human development are synonymous. Analysis of reflective comments of participants revealed how each mature intern teacher wove knowledge, attitudes, materials, educational theory, support from his/her mentor teacher, and personality into the unique teacher she/he was becoming. The intensity of the intern experience led the majority of the interns, by the middle of the second semester, to know the kind of teacher each would be, to be articulate in discussing her/his approach to teaching in both theoretical and practical terminology, and to display effective leadership in the classroom. The route to this knowing I call an epistemology of learning. This is a study of individuals who know what they have learned in such a deep, meaningful sense that they are confident in their useable knowledge. The route to this knowing is interactive and collaborative, experiential and theoretical; the resultant learning is deeply meaningful in that it incorporates intellect and emotion as the whole person develops dynamically (Kegan), works through the imbalance of transition to a more inclusive view of the world (Perry), and senses the ego-integrity of a generative self (Erikson).
Subject Area
Teacher education|Educational administration|Continuing education
Recommended Citation
Sapin-Piane, Barbara Miller, "Mature adults becoming teachers: Sailing toward Ithaka" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9408339.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9408339