2016 Volume 85 Pages 49-60
This paper aims to clarify how first year pre-service Social Studies teachers transition from “students”to “teachers.” To examine how the teachers’ develop their view of Social Studies and their lesson planning skills, the effects of their K-12 experience and pre-service teacher education curriculum are examined. A mixed research method was applied to first-year pre-service Social Studies teachers at X national university. The results of the survey were analyzed based on: 1) the relationship between the teachers’views regarding Social Studies and their lesson plans; and 2) the effect of their K-12 experience and preservice teacher education curriculum.
The first-year teachers clarified that their view regarding Social Studies was based on their K-12 experiences as well as from the Social Studies methods course at university. The pre-service teacher education curriculum was also identified as assisting the pre-service teachers in understanding how to adapt their lesson plans to suit the viewpoints of “good” Social Studies lesson the curriculum suggested. However, some students were unable to autonomously develop their lesson plans because of the influence of the lessons from their K-12 experience.
Previous research has separately dealt with the “awakening” effect, which is related to the metacognitive growth experienced at university and the “washed out” effect, which is the tendency to evaluate views or lesson styles based on positive K-12 experiences. It was found that the pre-service Social Studies teachers’ experienced both effects at the same time and developed their views on Social Studies and lesson planning by dealing with the conflict between them. This research implies that the new pre-service teacher education curriculum should consider a balance between the “awakening” effect and the “washed out” effect.
