Abstract

An emerging question is whether professional development school partnerships have an effect on developing professional dispositions of teacher candidates. Research has shown that, in comparison to traditional teacher education programs, teacher preparation in Professional Development Schools is more apt to demonstrate desired organizational characteristics. Additionally, there is some evidence that Professional Development School based teacher education produces teachers with greater confidence and self-efficacy in teaching. Literature also suggests that teacher candidates completing a PDS-based program are more likely to use the results of reflection to vary their instruction and pedagogical practices based on the classroom situation. This study of a Professional Development School setting identified key words and phrases from teacher candidate reflective journals and compared these to the Concerns-Based Adoption Model in order to analyze the move from novice to professional.