Student teacher development and the implementation of a constructivist, positive regard evaluation framework: Four case studies

This study described four student teacher\u27s development during one semester of student teaching when a Constructivist Positive Regard evaluation framework was used by their supervisor. This framework is centered in the Constructivist paradigm and draws heavily on the work of Carl Rogers who is credited with developing the concept of positive regard. In addition, the recent work of Donald Clifton who heads the SRI Gallup in Lincoln, Nebraska, was used to show how positive-regard-like views can be successfully applied in the workplace. Finally, the Constructivist Positive Regard framework draws heavily from the work of Guba and Lincoln who reviewed conventional evaluation practices and suggest a new, fourth generation approach to the subject. A qualitative case study approach was used. Informants were four student teachers, who majored in elementary education at the same large, Midwestern university and were assigned to different classrooms within a single, large school district. Data were collected through interviews, written and audio recorded journals, evaluations and observations. Journal data were coded and analyzed for themes. Case studies emerged with the richness of the individuality of each student teacher\u27s experience. Cross-case analysis revealed that no two experiences were alike. Each student teacher developed in relationship to the context of the teaching assignment, developmental readiness, individual backgrounds and their own belief systems. The study concluded that each student teacher changed within her own construction of her student-teaching reality. Each, through the course of the semester, was involved in a process of creating an understanding that served as a guideline against which the student teacher could gauge herself. This process was accomplished in the context and through interaction with other stakeholders. The CPR evaluation framework assisted the student teachers differently depending on the context of the student teaching situation