Individual differences in learning to teach: relating cognition, regulation and affect

The purpose of this study was to describe individual differences in learning to teach. Thirty secondary student teachers were interviewed about several components of their learning: mental models of learning to teach, learning activities, regulation in general, emotion regulation in particular, ideal self as a teacher and concerns. The interviews were qualitatively analysed, resulting in the identification of three to five categories per component. Homogeneity analysis demonstrated that many of these categories are related within individuals. Five orientations to learning to teach were discerned; an open meaning orientation, a closed meaning orientation, an open reproduction orientation, a closed reproduction orientation, and a survival orientation. The five orientations may be indicative of how progress in the quality of individual learning evolves.