Teachers and Teacher Education in High School Psychology: A National Survey

Abstract

This study provides a description of high school psychology teachers. A questionnaire was distributed to high school principals and teachers throughout the U.S. Data were obtained on school demographics, curricula, and teacher characteristics, including academic and professional preparation and certification. A noteworthy finding was the personality-developmental orientation of most high school psychology courses. In addition, most schools have one psychology teacher, who teaches one psychology class in the social studies department. As undergraduates, most teachers majored in social studies and took general or educational psychology courses. Classroom techniques for teaching psychology were generally not covered in professional preparation. Implications and recommendations are presented.