Monitoring Student Teachers’ Feelings of Preparedness to Teach and Teacher Efficacy in a New Elementary Teacher Education Program

Student teachers’ feelings of preparedness to teach and teacher efficacy were assessed. Both constructs were monitored across the first offering of an elementary teacher education program in the University of British Columbia (1987‐1989). Total group feelings of preparedness to teach increased significantly in every term except the last, but increases did not occur for all subgroups. Male student teachers’ measures of preparedness did not increase significantly during any term, and at the end of every term except the first, female student teachers felt significantly more prepared to teach than males. Measures of preparedness did not increase significantly in any term for one other subgroup, multicultural education students. The findings regarding teacher efficacy revealed some parallels, most notably across 4 terms a significant lessening of expectations regarding what can be accomplished through teaching.