SELF-CONCEPT DIFFERENCES I N STUDENT TEACHERS I N PRIMARY, ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY,

AND SPECIAL EDUCATION1 ROBERTA 31. 1\lILGRAhI NORMAN A. MILGRAhI

Tel-Aviv Utiiversity

Self-concept, intelligence and academic achievement were examined in stu- dents pre aring to teach in primary, elementary, secondary, and special edu- cation ($ = 267). The measures were the Tennessee Self-concept Scale, a group intelligence test, and school grades. Differences in self-concept, but not in intelligence and academic achievement, were found among groups of stu- dent teachers. Secondary education majors reported a more positive self- concept than primary or elementary, with special education majors reporting the least positive self-concept of all.

There is little systematic knowledge of individual differences among teachers a t different grade levels, because most investigators tend to view teachers as a homogeneous group (Charters, 1963; Peck & Tucker, 1973). There is considerable evidence that because of different standards for admission to training programs, primary and elementary school teachers and teacher trainees may be lower in intellectual ability and scholastic achievement than their counterparts a t the secondary level (Getzels & Jackson, 1963; Ryans, 1960). The present study in- vestigated whether similar differences favoring the higher grade levels obtain on personality characteristics.

Differences in self-concept among teachers have important implications for education. Fitts (1965) reported a correlation of .53 between scores on the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory and the Tennessee Self-concept Scale and concluded that teachers with positive self-concepts have healthier attitudes toward pupils than teachers with less positive self-concepts. McCandless (1967) cited self-concept as a correlate of overall mental health. Consequently, a positive self-concept in prospective teachers is an especially important personality dimension if they are to work effectively with children.

Apart from differences in subject matter, a critical factor influencing choice of teaching level is the way in which prospective teachers perceive the nature of the daily interpersonal interaction with young children, as compared with adoles- cents. People who choose to teach adolescents must have a relatively positive self-concept if they are to feel comfortable and competent in dealing with pupils who are seen as potentially challenging their intellectual and interpersonal authority. By contrast, even teachers characterized by a less positive self-concept feel com- petent to teach younger children who are not seen as challenging their authority to the same degree.

Accordingly, we predicted that education students electing to teach a t the higher grade level would have a more positive self-concept than students electing to teach a t the primary and elementary levels. Student teachers in special education

'This research was supported in part by the Israel Ministry of Education and Culture, .Depart- ment of Teacher Training. We are grateful to Mr. A. Shiryon, Principal; to Massada Law, Chair- man, Department of Education; and to t,he teachers and students of Levinsky Teachers College, Tel-Aviv, for their generous cooperation. We wish to thank Jonathan and Wendy Himon fnr their valuable assistance and wise counsel in the analysis of the data.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Roberta M. Milgram, School of Educat.ion, Tel-Aviv University, Rarnat-Aviv, Israel.

439

440 Psychology i n the Schools, October, 1976, Vol. I S , N o . 4.

(the slow learner and the mentally retarded learner) were expected to show self- concept similar t o or even less positive than those of students in primary and ele- mentary education, Although special education teachers often work with adoles- cents rather than young children, their pupils are invariably limited and, there- fore, not seen as a serious threat to a teacher with a less positive self-concept.

METHOD Subjects

Subjects were an entire entering class, all women, in a Tel-Aviv teachers college of excellent reputation ( N = 267). Students were distributed among seven majors: Re-school (iV = 27), Early Childhood (S = 43), Elementary (S = 43), Special Education ( K = 40), and Junior High-English ( N = 241, -Science (N = 29), and -Humanities (X = 61). All students had completed their high school studies, with 192 holding Israeli national matriculation certificates. Ap- proximately half of the subjects were age 20 and had completed two years of man- datory service in the Israeli army and the remainder were age 18 and had not yet served.

Materials Intellectual ability and academic achievement. A widely used nonverbal group

intelligence test, The Raven Progressive Matrices, Sets A-E, (1947) was adminis- tered. One example for each of the five sets was administered in an initial group practice session with 20 minutes to complete the remaining 55 items. Measures of academic achievement were grades on four national matriculation examinations (English, Mathematics, Hebrew, Bible) given a t the end of the senior year in high school.

The Israeli adaptation of the Tennessee Self-concept Scale (1965) was utilized because of its widespread use in Israel. This scale contains 100 items to which subjects answer yes or no and yields a measure of overall self- esteem. The self-concept scale was administered to groups of approximately 25 subjects in their regular classrooms.

Selj-Concept Scale.

RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION Differences in personality, but not in intelligence and academic achievement,

were found among groups of student teachers, F (6,216) = 2.41, p < .03. When analyzed by the Scheff6 test (1953), junior high majors reported a more postitive self-concept than primary or elementary (p < .01). Self-concept scores of special education majors were least positive of all, and significantly less positive (p < .05) than that of elementary majors.

While F ratios for academic achievement and intelligence did not reach formal significance, the order of their mean scores on these indices is the same as in self- concept. When means are arranged by pupil age in Table 1, there is a consistent trend across all three measures for scores to rise with age. Special education majors, who will teach children differing widely in age, placed below elementary education majors on all measures and even below early childhood majors on self-concept and academic achievement.

Self-Concept Diferences in Student Teachers 44 1

Personality differences reported here and intelligence differences reported elsewhere (Getzels & Jackson, 1963; Ryans, 1960) favor secondary teachers over teachers of younger children. This is unfortunate, since the needs of younger chil- dren for good teachers are probably not less than those of older children. In the primary and elementary grades, children generally spend many hours each day with one teacher. In the secondary grades, children are exposed to many teachers each day for short periods of time, The intensive interpersonal contact between child and teacher in the primary and elementary grades may require a relatively high level of personal-social and intellectual skills.

TABLE: 1. MEANS OF SUBGROUPS ON SELF-CONCEPT, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE

Academic Self-concept Achievement Intelligence

Special Educat,ion 370.43 6 . 4 8 21.70 Preschool 369.63 6 .42 20.68 Early Childhood 376.00 6.55 21.41 Elementary 380.49 6 . 6 4 22.03 Secondary 386.69 6 .77 22.11

The same findings were obtained with reference to the self-concept of special education majors, indicating that people with less positive self-concept are attracted to teaching retarded children, who are apparently perceived as unlikely to threaten their sense of adequacy. Here again, interaction with retarded pupils who are themselves characterized by less positive self-concept (Johnson, 1971) probably requires teachers who are above rather than below the norm in self-concept.

The findings attest to the importance of attracting people with more positive personal-social characteristics to teaching a t the younger age levels and in special education, and/or to develop teacher training techniques specifically designed to enhance self-concept and other personal-social characteristics relevant to teaching performance.

REFERENCES CHARTERS, W. W., JR. The social background of teaching. In Nathan L. Gage (Ed.), Handbook of

FITTS, W. H. Manual for the Tetmessee Self-Concept Scale. Nashville, Tenn. : Counselor Recordings

GETZELS, J . W., & JACKSON, P. W. The teacher’s personality and characteristics. In N. L. Gage

JOHNSON, G. 0. In W. M. Cruickshank Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall,

MCCANDLESS, B. R. Children: Behavior arid development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1967. PECK, R. F., & TUCKER, J. A. Research on tearher education. I n R. M. W. Travels (Ed.), Second

handbook of research on teaching. Chicago: Rand McNally College Publishing Co., 1973, 940-979. RAVEN, J. Progressive Matrices. New York: Psychological Corporation, 1947. RYANS, D. G. Characteristics of teachers. Washington, D.C. : American Council on Education, 1960.

research on teaching.

and Tests, 1965.

(Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963, 506-382.

(Ed.), Psychology of ezceptional children aiid youth.

Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963, 71.5-813.

Psychological characteristics of the mentally retarded.

1971, 495-527.

SCHRFFE, H. A method of judging all contrasts in the analysis of variance. Biometrika, 1953, 40, 87-1 04.