Previous research has indicated that negotiations between preservice teachers (PTs) and pupils differed in type, amount, and effect on instruction during units taught within different curricular models to middle school children. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of negotiations between PTs and elementary pupils on PTs’ instruction within a movement concepts unit.
Method:
Participants were 10 PTs engaged in an elementary early field experience in which they taught an eighteen lesson movement concepts unit to pupils in the 3rd grade. Data collection techniques employed were non-participant observation, document analysis, critical incident reflections, and formal, informal, and stimulated recall interviews.
Analysis/Results:
Analytic induction and constant comparison were used to analyze the data. Key findings were that the elementary pupils in the current study initiated fewer negotiations than middle school pupils in prior research. Moreover, and again in contrast to middle school pupils in previous research, there were very few pupil-initiated negotiations aimed at securing changes in instructional tasks, a reduction in standards of performance for tasks, or increased time to socialize. Instead, the majority of pupil-initiated negotiations were aimed at making tasks more challenging. Girls tended to negotiate for increases in difficulty for gymnastics tasks, while boys negotiated for more challenging tasks within skill themes that were game-related. Highly skilled girls and boys were more likely to initiate negotiations with PTs than less skilled pupils. PTs also initiated fewer negotiations with elementary pupils than PTs teaching middle school pupils had during previous research. PTs with less pedagogical skill were more likely to offer changes in tasks or a reduction in accountability in exchange for compliance with their managerial systems. This form of negotiation was often dictated by the presence of key pupils within PTs’ teaching groups. More able PTs were more likely to initiate positive negotiations aimed at improving the quality of pupil’s performance.
Conclusions:
The results of the study suggest two courses of action that might lead to improvements in PTs’ instructional quality. First, requiring PTs to reflect on the degree to which they engage in negotiations with pupils and the focus of these negotiations. Second, interventions aimed at improving PTs’ negotiating skills. The contrasts in the findings of this study with those of previous research also suggest that faculty could help PTs by making them aware that patterns of negotiation may differ when teaching pupils of different ages and within different curricular models.