Combined Credential Programs: Pedagogic, Practical, and Ideological Concerns

Overview & Synopsis

The number of teacher education programs combining general and special education teacher certification is growing. In spite of this increase, little has been known about how these programs impact preservice teachers' (PSTs) developing professional identities. This article uses a case study of one newly implemented combined credential program at a large, urban, public university in California to examine how PSTs experience the professional socialization of becoming a general "and" a special education teacher in relation to their perceptions about disability and typicality. This study examines societal, institutional, and personal factors that influence PSTs' understandings about general and special education teachers. It examines factors that influence their decisions about what type of teachers they want to become. It also examines the factors that influence their perceptions of disability and typicality. It considers the relationship between socializing agents (such as past experiences, public perception, and the teacher education program itself) in relation to PSTs' desires to become general or special educators. It also relates their professional decisions to the norms and values espoused within this new programmatic framework. Framed within the professional socialization and teacher identity literature, this study delves into the nuances of a combined credential program. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)