The relationship between the time spent studying subject knowledge and the attitude of trainee teachers to the subject(s) they will teach

Abstract

The study emanated out of a mounting concern regarding the lack of subject knowledge of students training to become teachers of Design and Technology (D&T) in England and Wales. The article presents the research carried out to establish whether or not the length of time a student spent studying subject knowledge might have some bearing upon how positive their attitudes and beliefs were about the subject and teaching it. The data were collected from a cohort of 83 D&T Initial Teacher Training (ITT) students from a University in the North East of England using a self-completed attitude measurement scale comprising 22 statements concerning a student’s attitude to teaching D&T, their beliefs about the subject, and their perception of their own D&T ability with particular reference to design activity. The results of the survey were discussed in detail, and conclusions and implications were drawn.