Author: Robert James Dematteis

Publisher:

Published: 1974

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the selfconcept by examining the relationships among self-perception, behavioral understanding, and teacher performance. The subjects were 53 female college students enrolled in one of three practicum classes offered by the Family Life Department of Oregon State University. Subjects in Group A (n=33) were enrolled in the first of this series of practicum courses involving supervised experience with young children. The remaining subjects (n=20) were enrolled in the final phase of the above series and comprised Group B.A total of five instruments were used to collect data in this study. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was used to measure the subject's general level of self-esteem and the semantic differential, Myself As A Teacher, was used to measure the subject's view of herself as a teacher. Form II of the Film Test for Understanding Behavior was used to assess a subject's basic understanding of interpersonal situations involving young children. The Student's Self- Evaluation Rating Scale and an identical scale, the Instructor's Evaluation Rating Scale, were used to measure the subject's level of performance as a teacher. This teacher performance was measured only in Group B. Rank order correlational analyses were applied to determine the relationship between and among these measures of self-perception, behavioral understanding, and teacher performance. The study was structured around the statements of four specific relationships. No significant relationship was found between the FUB Total Score and the TSCS Total Score for either Group A or Group B. However, quite different results were obtained with the situation specific instrument, the MAAT. Subjects reported a less enhancing view of self after an initial experience and this view correlated highly with lowered scores on the Guidance Subscale of the FUB. On the other hand, Group B subjects scored lower on the Guidance Subscale, but reported a more enhancing view of self on the MAAT. The relationship between self-perception and self-evaluation of teacher performance was investigated only for Group B. It appeared that a pattern of relationship existed between how one views oneself generally and how one views one's performance as a teacher. More specifically, there appears to be a relationship between a subject's view of herself as a teacher and her view of her ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with her pupils. No significant relationships were found between the Instructor's Evaluation Rating Scale (TERS) and the TSCS. However, a more definite pattern of relationship emerges with the situational view of self measured by the MAAT. Apparently a strong relationship existed between feelings of self-worth as a teacher and an observer's rating of the individual's ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with children. No significant relationships were found between either the Self- Evaluation Rating Scale (SERS) and the FUB or between the Instructor's Evaluation Rating Scale (IERS) and the FUB. Furthermore, there appears to be no pattern of relationship with regard to the correlations reported. Tangential analyses of the correlations between the Self-Evaluation Rating Scale and the Instructor's Evaluation Rating Scale revealed high significant intercorrelations. This suggests that these instruments are potentially useful for evaluation in a teacher training program. The results tended to support several aspects of phenomenological theory, particularly the notion that an individual's behavior will be consistent with his view of himself. The results also highlighted the need for a reconceptualization of the dynamics of change in the selfconcept. Such a reconceptualization may facilitate a further understanding of the influences which result in chan, ge to central and peripheral elements of the self. Furthermore, the importance of investigating a situational view of the self rather than the selfconcept in general became apparent. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research were also discussed.