Preservice Teachers’ Academic Memories of School: A Tool for Learning

Abstract

Prior research in memory examined recollections of school. The current study sought to extend earlier research concerning memories of school to preservice teachers. Based on prior research protocols, undergraduate teacher education majors (N=83) enrolled in an undergraduate Educational Psychology course were asked to describe teaching episodes that were related to (a) two memories of subjects in grades 1 through 12 they Plan To Teach and (b) two memories of subjects in grades 1 through 12 they Plan Not To Teach. For each description of an academic event, they indicated (a) what school subject it was, (b) what grade level, (c) how well they remembered the event, and (d) how unpleasant or pleasant the event was. Memories were more positive for the Plan To Teach subjects and more negative for the Plan Not To Teach subjects. This finding applied to both Elementary and Secondary preservice teachers who reported more pleasant memories for the subjects they Plan To Teach. More positive memories for Plan To Teach subjects were reported across the academic scoring categories of Teacher Behavior, Learning Experiences, and Recognition. Implications for the teaching of Educational Psychology and other foundation courses were discussed.

University students' memories of their secondary science education experiences

“…According to Turunen (2012), individuals carry both happy and bad memories of their school years throughout their adult lives. They have an emotional impact on students' school or academic memories (Hudson et al, 2010;Haught et al, 2015), as well as an effect on students' physical identity (Wang et al, 2018), and they influence students' achievement levels (Wayne and Youngs, 2003). From this perspective, this study will contribute to the research on school memories.…”

“…Their prior educational experiences significantly impact their attitudes and thoughts about a course of study and their decision about which career to pursue. According to Haught et al (2015), school memories are linked to one's beliefs about education. Regardless of accuracy, memories of earlier years provide significant insight into what is remembered and what is important to the individual.…”

Using autobiographical comics to explore life stories and school experiences of pre‐service early childhood educators

“…Encouraging pre‐service teachers to reflect on their past educational and life experiences has been common in teacher education programmes for many years (Fendler, 2003; Johnson, 2007). It is argued that such reflections are undertaken to examine how their educational philosophy and beliefs have been shaped by their past (Van Hook, 2002; Furlong, 2013; Haught et al , 2015). Unpacking these past experiences can also challenge the often simplistic views of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ teaching held by pre‐service teachers (de Lima et al , 2014).…”