An examination of protective factors and coping strategies of pre-service teachers completing different cerification routes

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The purpose of this study was to determine if pre-service teachers who have taken different routes to certification (ie. traditional students versus 2 types of graduate students) identify with different protective factors and methods of coping under stress. Data was collected using the COPE Scale (Carver, et. al., 1989) and the Teacher Protective Factors Scale (Muller, Gorrow, & Fiala, 2011) on three different populations. The results of a repeated measure MANOVA showed significant main effects for both the Cope Scale and the Teacher Protective Factors Scale. These findings could be applied to pre-service teacher curriculum formation. Curriculum for traditional students could help initiate the foundation and growth of student protective factors and coping mechanisms, while curriculum could be adapted to build on the foundation non-traditional students have developed since they have already established protective factors and coping mechanisms.