TEACHER COGNITION

Teacher Cognition reports on a mixed-model three phase research study that sought to explore how the effects of prior experience in the classroom as the student impacted on how entry-level student teachers saw themselves in the role as the teacher. The study focused on three non-archetypical student teachers: Male Primary, Female Secondary and Mature- Aged returning adults. The study was conducted at both a large Australian and New Zealand university. All successful student teachers who entered the 2005 intake were invited to participate. The first phase utilized a self-administered questionnaire to gather participants' beliefs and ideas about their own prior schooling experiences. The second phase interviewed those participants who voluntarily agreed to be included. The interviews began semi- structured using their own survey instrument to gain deeper insight and meaning into what was reported. Then became unstructured as they were guided to reflect and report on prior experiences and how this influenced their view of themselves as the teacher. The final phase re-interviewed participants after their first teaching experience.