Impediments to Teaching Practice in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the impediments student teachers face during teaching practice according to student teachers and supervisors, and describe how the 1997 teacher education reform responded to the identified impediments. The subjects in the study were 70 student teachers attending teaching practice and six supervisors from the Faculty of Education at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. For data collection purposes a questionnaire comprising five open ended questions was administered to the student teachers. An open ended interview was conducted with the supervisors, and this constituted the second data set. Data gathered through the interviews and questionnaires were subjected to content analysis. Results are presented and then discussed in relation to the 1997 teacher education reform teaching practice component. It is concluded that, to overcome existing impediments, teacher education should be perceived as a cooperative or shared responsibility.