Bradley C. Greiman

Reflective Thinking and Journal Writing: Examining Student Teachers' Perceptions of Preferred Reflective Modality, Journal Writing Outcomes, and Journal Structure.

Journal writing is generally required of student teachers; however, there is a void in career and technical education research regarding this activity. The purpose of this study was to examine student teachers’ journal writing experiences to obtain insight into the process of developing reflective practitioners. The study drew on the work of Dewey and Schon to build a theoretical framework in support of journal writing as a means to acquire and improve reflective thinking. The accessible sample consisted of three consecutive cohorts of student teachers (N = 44) in agricultural education at a Midwestern university who completed an 11-week student teaching experience. The student teachers’ preferred reflective modality was verbal reflection, self-reflection, and written reflection. Journal structure in the form of a prompt was not found to significantly impact journal writing outcomes. A “like/dislike” phenomenon associated with journal writing and reflection was discovered. Student teachers perceived that journal writing is a personal and unique endeavor.

Youth Leadership Development Self-Efficacy: An Exploratory Study Involving a New Construct.

Supported by Bandura’s social cognitive theory, our study examined personal factors and environmental factors that impact adults’ ability to assist youth in developing leadership. We introduce youth leadership development self-efficacy (YLD-SE) as a new construct for use in leadership research. A 7-item scale to measure YLD-SE was developed and its psychometric properties were established through exploratory factor analysis. The study sought to investigate the YLD-SE of agricultural education teachers, determine the relationship that YLD-SE has with selected variables, and determine the predictors of YLD-SE. Participants were agricultural education teachers (N = 177) in [Midwestern state] who taught during the 2005-2006 school year. Results showed that teachers perceive they have a high level of YLD-SE, and hierarchical regression analysis revealed that transformational and laissez-faire leadership style were significant predictors of YLD-SE. The full model explained 25% of the variance in YLD-SE.

Beginning Teachers' Perceptions of In-School and In-Profession Mentoring Relationships.

The purpose of this study was to compare two different formal mentoring relationships based on the perceptions of beginning teachers regarding their dyadic interactions. Kram’s mentor role theory and Byrne’s similarity-attraction paradigm served as the theoretical foundation for the study. The specific variables of interest included psychosocial mentoring, dyad similarity, and dyad satisfaction. The time and place sample consisted of beginning agricultural education teachers (n = 40) paired with a mentor in the school where they taught (i.e., in-school), and beginning agricultural education teachers (n = 40) paired with an agricultural education mentor located in a neighboring school (i.e., in-profession). Data for this study were collected by using the Mentoring Relationship Questionnaire (MRQ). No statistically significant differences were found between the two mentoring relationships. Recommendations for further investigation are suggested, including the need to expand the understanding of relationship dynamics and predictors of quality mentoring.

The Influence of Gender on Relationship Aspects of Beginning Teachers and Their Mentors.

To date, relatively few researchers have examined the gender compositi on of mentoring dyads in the context of Career and Technical Educati on (CTE). Without such studies, understanding with respect to how gender infl uences the dyad relationship is limited. An integrated theoretical framewor k that draws from the similarity-attraction paradigm, relational demography , and attachment theory is applied to this exploratory study involving beginning teachers of agricultural education. Hypotheses related to the influence of gender on th e success of the mentoring relationship were tested. It appears that gender heterogeneity does not hinder the mentoring relationship of beginning teachers. Th e results suggested that male and female beginning teachers, and beginning teachers in same-gender and mixed-gender dyads perceived similar levels of psychosocial mentor ing and its functions, and dyad satisfaction. Significant differences exi ted between males and females regarding their perceptions of dyad similarity; ho wever, no significant differences were found between beginning teachers in same-gender a mixedgender dyads on the same measure. Further research on interper sonal processes in mentoring relationships is encouraged, and gender norming i agricultural education should be examined.