A STUDY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INTERNAL PROCESSES AND INNOVATIVENESS OF TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Teacher training programs as they exist today are affected by numerous factors, both external and internal. The review of literature indicated that internal factors were critically related to the continued development of innovative programs which meet the needs of the student and society. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which various processes involved in change were utilized in static and innovative teacher education programs. Processes related to change included mission building, assessment, motivation, decision making, communication, and leadership. The data for this study were collected from faculty members of four teacher education institutions. A static and innovative state college and university were selected on the basis of questionnaire responses regarding the extent of involvement in program development. An integral part of this study was the development of a composite change model. This model provided the basis from which data of innovative and static institutions were analyzed. The change model constructs included the following: philosophical basis, mission and goals, needs assessment, awareness of options, examination of options, development and piloting of plan, evaluation, adoption, renewal, along with a continuous feedback loop. Elements both internal and external to the educational institution were also included in the change model. An interview guide was developed to collect data relevant to the change process employed in the four institutions. Through the use of a recorded and transcribed interview, factors were assessed which faculty members perceived as affecting program development in their institution. A mapping procedure for ethnographic reduction and analysis was utilized in the development of four descriptive profiles. The change process within innovative and static institutions was compared and contrasted. The findings of the study revealed that: (1) Innovative teacher education institutions utilized a substantially different change process than did the static institutions. (2) The internal factors of innovative teacher education institutions reflected a substantive difference in mission building, assessment, decision making, communication, motivation, and leadership. (3) The framework for change of the innovative institutions was based upon a well defined philosophical base, a commitment to a congruent institutional and individual mission, and a growing dependence on data based needs assessment. (4) The change process of the static institutions possessed a fragmented philosophical base, an incongruent individual and institutional mission, and short-range assessment which lacked depth and systematic input