Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Mary Stephens Boose
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic curriculum, aggressive behaviors, aggression, anti-social behavior, behavior management, belief systems, caring communities, classroom aggression, cognitive development, community service projects, cooperative learning, decision making, early childhood education, efficacy, ethnic of care, field placements, instructional time, intervention training, moral education, nursery through third grade, peace education, peacemaking, peacemaking strategies, positive behavior support, problem solving, prosocial behavior, school aggression, school violence, shared decision making, socioemotional behavior, socioemotional education, Social Emotional Learning, student teachers, teacher confidence, teacher education, teacher intervention, university teacher preparation, violence intervention, violence prevention
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to prepare early childhood student teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of a peacemaker to manage classroom aggression with competence and confidence. During field placements student teachers reported frustration in their ability to manage the increasingly aggressive and disruptive socioemotional behaviors of their young students. Recurring patterns of anti-social behavior became a daily challenge, exacting a toll not only on instructional time, but also on student teacher attention, patience, and, over time, efficacy. An in-depth study of the university nursery through third grade early childhood teacher preparation program revealed little or no violence prevention or intervention training.
The writer designed a cognitive, developmental model of socioemotional and moral education training for integration within the existing nursery through third grade teacher education program. To foster a caring, cooperative learning community, education majors were instructed in the characteristics of school violence and teacher intervention behaviors, the impact of teacher belief systems on student learning, and peacemaking strategies. Peacemaking strategies included: (a) building communities of respect and responsibility through an ethnic of care and shared decision making, and (b) integrating socioemotional and moral education within the academic curriculum through prosocial problem solving, cooperative learning activities, and community service projects.
An analysis of the data indicated that increased knowledge of school aggression had a positive effect on the belief systems of early childhood education majors, which, in combination with training in peacemaking strategies, increased student teacher confidence in their ability to manage disruptive and aggressive behaviors during field placements. Results also indicated that sustained instruction, practice, and feedback are necessary for the development and transfer of new skills.