Abstract
M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)
Education is fundamentally an imaginative act of hope” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.1) and this hope is dependent on one’s ability to care enough to develop each child to his or her full potential. The intention of this study is to determine the dispositions of fourth year Foundation Phase students at a local higher education institute, and to establish how these dispositions influence their practice during their scheduled teaching practicals. The findings from this study will be used to propose a strategy for Initial Professional Education and Training (IPET) programmes in order to explicitly develop invitational dispositions in Foundation Phase teachers in training.
The study is supported by a theoretical framework which investigates the notion of dispositions and the development of these through the lenses of structuration theory, social cognitive theory and attribution-based theory of motivation, and leading to the application of the Invitational Education approach. Self concept theory and perceptual theory are encompassed within this approach, and form an integral part of the study. From this theoretical framework, an invitational dispositional framework is developed to represent the inter-connected nature of the five invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The research design and methodology of the study is located in the interpretivist paradigm, using a case study design within a qualitative approach. A survey is used to collect data relating to fourth year Foundation Phase students’ opinions regarding the essential dispositions required by Foundation Phase teachers in order to establish positive teaching and learning environments. Further data is gathered from two nested cases of fourth year Foundation Phase students during both their first and second teaching practicals, through the means of observations, interviews and document analysis. Each data source is analysed through content analysis in an attempt to identify the common patterns that emerge, followed by the coding of the data according to the invitational dispositions of care, intentionality, trust, respect and optimism. The opinions of the students, as determined from the analysis of the survey, are then compared to their actions as demonstrated through their practice, with a final consideration of the developmental trajectory of these dispositions.
From this study, it was found that the dispositional ability to care is of paramount importance in Foundation Phase teaching and that this dispositional ability is determined in three inter-
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connected areas. A reduced ability to care in one of the interactional areas of self, others and the profession results in a decreased ability to care in the other areas as well. Upon analysis of the data, it was discovered that low levels of self confidence and limited care for the learning taking place in classrooms results in inconsistent invitational interactions between the student and the children. Lower levels of care further impacts upon the students’ ability to act with intentionality in each of the three interactional areas. Students would greatly benefit from explicit development in their reflective practice and in their self confidence, as “caring is an ethic that guides action” (Purkey and Novak, 1996, p.9). In this way students would be able to be Intentionally Inviting more consistently, and purposefully engage with children in the teaching and learning process.