Under Stress: The concerns and coping strategies of teacher education students

This study sought information from two cohorts of student teachers regarding their concerns in the teaching practicum component of their course and strategies they used to cope with these concerns. Students completed the Perceptions of Teaching questionnaire, and supervising teachers rated them in seven teaching areas. Data were analyzed in various ways to (1) test the psychometric properties of the survey instrument; (2) identify aspects of the practicum that concerned students most and least; (3) examine differences between students' experiences of stress in relation to age, gender, and degree status (graduate or undergraduate); (4) define strategies that students reported help them cope with practicum stresses; and (5) investigate the relationship between stress and teaching performance.
Examination of data across time yielded a consistent finding of significant reduction in stress from the first to the second practicum. The composition of this change produced a constant pattern of greater concern for students in the area of preparation and less concern related to school evaluation. The critical importance of the student/supervising teacher relationship for student success in the practicum emerged both from the students' reports that seeking support from the teacher was their principal coping strategy, and from the strong link found between stress in the relationship and teachers' poorer rating of the students' performance.