Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the extent of transformational learning for teacher candidates during student teaching. This study further examined the influence of values, beliefs, role expectations, personnel, programs, life changes, and educational experiences on transformational learning during student teaching. Methodology. The researcher used a mixed-methods design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study was conducted with the quantitative strand first, followed by the qualitative, with integration at the end. The researcher administered a survey to 95 student teachers from four universities. The qualitative method consisted of 10 one-on-one interviews to correlate the identified factors from the quantitative data attributed to transformational learning. Findings. The study revealed that student teachers do experience transformational learning during their student teaching, with 82% agreement in the quantitative portion and 100% agreement in the qualitative portion of the study. The master teacher had the highest influence on transformational learning, while university supervisors had a lower impact than the researcher expected. The quantitative responses yielded a 73% agreement rate, and the qualitative results showed 90% of respondents in agreement that a development program influenced transformational learning, with verbally discussing ideas and personal reflection cited as the highest influencers. Conclusions. The study concluded that student teachers benefit from structured collaboration, verbally discussing ideas, and information sharing as a way of processing their transformational learning. Directed inquiry and self-reflection should be facilitated by universities during student teaching. Additionally, student teachers benefit from a more individualized program and increased real-world connections prior to student teaching. Recommendations. A future study should include a replication of this study with a larger population that includes student teachers from a variety of public and private universities. An additional replication study is recommended with student teachers in nontraditional student teaching structures in order to identify what educational experiences universities can use to influence transformational learning.