Date of Graduation

5-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Agricultural & Extension Education (MS)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology

Advisor/Mentor

Shoulders, Catherine W.

Committee Member

Johnson, Donald M.

Second Committee Member

Edgar, Leslie D.

Third Committee Member

Blythe, Jessica

Keywords

Agricultural Education; Preservice Teachers; Professional Identity; Secondary Education; Self-Efficacy

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, a decision was made to separate the preparation of agricultural education teachers from their elementary and secondary counterparts (Hearings, 1908; Heren & Hillison, 1996; Hillison, 1986). The majority of land-grant universities and colleges have continued to prepare agricultural education preservice teachers within the college of agriculture, separate from other secondary education preservice teachers in the college of education (Myers & Dyer, 2004). Despite the differences among content disciplines, teachers who possess a strong sense of self-efficacy and professional identity have higher success rates in the classroom when it comes to collaboration, involvement, and student achievement (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Bandura, 1997; Dembo & Gibson, 1985; O’Bryant, 1992; Putman, 2012; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2008; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001White, 2009; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the self-efficacy and professional identity of preservice agricultural education teachers and other secondary education preservice teachers.

Data were collected from land-grant universities and colleges through either electronic or paper surveys. Respondents (N = 85) from 13 institutions included both agricultural education preservice teachers (n = 68) and other secondary education preservice teachers (n = 17). The instrument used in this study was a modified questionnaire that combined two previously established scales, Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy’s (2001) Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale and Woo’s (2013) Professional Identity Scale in Counseling. Descriptive statistics revealed that agricultural education preservice teachers’ possessed a slightly higher level of self-efficacy than other secondary education preservice teachers. Conversely, secondary education preservice teachers’ possessed a slightly higher level of professional identity than agricultural education preservice teachers. The Pearson’s Correlation method was used to reveal a negligible relationship between self-efficacy and professional identity among agricultural education preservice teachers. However, there was a small relationship between self-efficacy and professional identity among secondary education preservice teachers. Further research should be conducted to establish the development of self-efficacy and professional identity throughout the teacher career cycle through longitudinal studies. Additionally, the literature suggest a relationship between self-efficacy and professional identity but more research is recommended to empirically prove and generalize this to all preservice teachers.

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