Shifts in special education over the last 25 years have increased the pressure on special education teacher preparation programs to improve the quality of opportunities to learn provided to teacher candidates. One aspect of quality that has not been extensively explored in the literature is the interaction between the individual candidate – the learner – and preparation experiences. Using survey and interview data from special education teacher candidates across six teacher preparation programs, we explore how candidates with differing levels of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) experience preparation. Findings suggest that TSE shaped how candidates made sense of preparation and what they took up from their opportunities to learn. Across phases, candidates with low- and high-TSE differed in how they reported on their learning opportunities and then how they interpreted these opportunities as shaping their future practice. We end with implications for research, policy, and practice in special education teacher preparation.

过去 25 年来特殊教育的转变增加了特殊教育教师准备计划的压力，以提高为教师候选人提供的学习机会的质量。文献中尚未广泛探讨的质量的一个方面是个体候选人（学习者）与准备经验之间的相互作用。使用来自六个教师准备计划的特殊教育教师候选人的调查和访谈数据，我们探讨了具有不同教师自我效能 (TSE) 水平的候选人如何体验准备。调查结果表明，TSE 塑造了候选人如何理解准备以及他们从学习机会中获得了什么。跨阶段，具有低和高 TSE 的候选人在报告学习机会的方式以及他们如何将这些机会解释为塑造他们未来的实践方面有所不同。我们以对特殊教育教师准备的研究、政策和实践的影响结束。