MAINSTREAMING GENDER IN TEACHER CANDIDATES’ USE OF STRATEGIES TO REDUCE DISSONANCE IN SUPERVISORS’ FEEDBACK

<doi>10.24250/jpe/si/2025/OSO/</doi>

Abstract

Teacher candidates often experience cognitive dissonance
due to conflicting feedback from university-assigned
supervisors during teaching practice. Previous studies
have examined strategies for reducing such dissonance and
the factors influencing their use, often assuming the
unidimensionality of these strategies rather than
considering how specific factors affect each one. This study
identifies four distinct dissonance reduction strategies:
minimal intervention, recourse to supervisor, significant
others, and self-directed learning. Given the influence of
gender on decision-making, including teaching-related
decisions, this study explores its impact on the use of these
strategies among pre-service teachers. Using a descriptive
research design, data were collected from 442 pre-service
teachers at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria,
through the Dissonance in Supervisors’ Feedback
Reduction Strategies Use Questionnaire (DSFR-Q). The
findings indicate that gender is not a statistically
significant factor in the choice of dissonance reduction
strategies. However, it is suggested that female pre-service
teachers may be more inclined to use minimal intervention,
significant others, and self-directed learning, whereas their
male counterparts may prefer seeking recourse to
supervisors. These findings are discussed in relation to the
ethnographic realities of teacher education in Nigeria.