What Kind of Teacher Will I Be? Pre-service Teachers’ Hoped-for Future Selves as School Health Champions

Date
2020-07-08
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Abstract
Teachers play a pivotal role implementing and sustaining school health promotion efforts. Currently, Bachelor of Education programs in Canada offer little or no training in student health and wellness. Ideally, teacher preparation programs would include an opportunity for participants to critically engage with health and wellness issues in a reflective manner to assimilate it as part of their professional identity. In the current study, pre-service teachers participated in a professional development opportunity in health and wellness and were then asked to describe their future teacher self and the steps they would take to become the teacher they envisioned. By conducting a thematic analysis of responses, I found that pre-service teachers imagined their future teacher self (a) modelling health and wellness; (b) creating a calm, safe space for students; and (c) teaching and learning about Comprehensive School Health. Pre-service teachers listed steps for attainment that highlighted the need for broader acceptance and administrative support for CSH in school contexts.
Description
Keywords
Pre-service Teachers, Comprehensive School Health, Thematic Analysis, Teacher Preparation Programs
Citation
Richardson, L. A. (2020). What Kind of Teacher Will I Be? Pre-service Teachers’ Hoped-for Future Selves as School Health Champions (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.