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

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.