Cooperating teachers’ use of the Situational Leadership® II Model: The influence of follower development on student teachers’ satisfaction and intent to teach

Agricultural education struggles to fill open positions each year, even though more than enough students graduate annually with a degree in agricultural education. The student teaching semester has long been recognized as a key component in the teacher preparation process. The relationship between a student teacher and a cooperating teacher is an important part of that experience. The use of a leadership model, Situational Leadership® II, by cooperating teachers during the student teaching experience is an area for further investigation. The purpose of this study was to investigate cooperating teacher’s application of the Situational Leadership® II Model on the student teaching experience as measured by the student teacher’s level of satisfaction and intent to teach. This study employed a two-phase sequential mixed methods design in which the qualitative data helped explain the preliminary quantitative results. The quantitative phase allowed the cooperating teachers to assess their student teacher’s level of competence and commitment as conceptualized by the Situational Leadership® II Model. Cooperating teachers reported their student teachers to be in the D3 level of development for the majority of the semester. Student teachers’ level of satisfaction and intent to teach were also measured in connection to their relationship with their cooperating teacher. Student teachers were highly satisfied with their cooperating teacher, but their intent to teach only changed slightly from before to after the experience. The qualitative results allowed for further examination of the initial results and identified areas for improvement of the student teaching experience.