Considering Pre-Existing Domain-Specific Knowledge as Presage Variable for the Selection of Teachers

Abstract

Teacher educators and educational policy makers are concerned with the selection of good teachers. Presage variables have been studied in the hope of predicting teaching performance now or later. This paper reports an initial attempt to explore the differential prior domain-specific knowledge of high- and low-performance trainees. About three hundred trainees in a pre-service teacher education course identified one positive and one negative critical incident after viewing a video-taped lesson. Responses reveal a variety of knowledge about teachers and teaching. Is there a set of identifiable domain-specific knowledge that is related to course performance? This study attempts to establish this relationship. Results provide insights into the prediction of teaching performance and the selection of trainees.

Descriptors::

• Prior knowledge
• domain-specific knowledge
• teacher knowledge
• selection of trainees
• presage variable