Navigating Different Perspectives: Differences Between Student Teachers’ Boundary-Crossing Competence in Addressing Student Misbehavior

Abstract

Student teachers often feel uncertain when addressing misbehavior due to conflicting advice across contexts. Placement schools typically favor a directive approach and the Marnix teacher education institute emphasizes responsive teaching. Student teachers must navigate these differences using their boundary-crossing competence, a topic that has not yet been researched in this context. This study explores: ‘How do student teachers differ in boundary-crossing competence as reflected in their use of learning mechanisms to restore continuity in advice to address student misbehavior?’. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected fourth-year teacher education students. While identification and reflection were consistently applied by most students, the mechanisms of coordination and transformation revealed more varied differences in competence. Analysis revealed four distinct types of boundary-crossing competence: analyzing, co-operating, switching and self-directing. Each type was characterized by how student teachers employed the learning mechanisms to restore continuity. This extends the existing boundary-crossing framework. Accordingly, the Marnix institution could adopt a differentiated approach and align curriculum content and mentorship practices with these competence types. Other Dutch PABOs could replicate this research to further examine how students navigate conflicting advice and whether the identified competence types recur in different institutional contexts.