An assessment of pre-service teacher education in terms of preparing teacher candidates for teaching

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2013

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: ESRA ERET

Asıl Danışman (Eş Danışmanlı Tezler İçin): Ahmet Ok

Eş Danışman: Yeşim Çapa Aydın

Özet:

The purpose of the study was to investigate pre-service teacher education in Turkey in terms of preparing teacher candidates for teaching. Survey design was used and the sample included 1856 senior class teacher candidates from seven different teaching areas in seven colleges of education. Teacher Education Assessment Questionnaire (TEAQ) was prepared as the main data collection tool. To enrich the quantitative data and obtain more in-depth information, interviews were conducted with 43 teacher candidates. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics based on the research questions. The content analysis was utilized for the analyses of the qualitative data. The findings suggested that teacher education was more adequate in terms of preparing teacher candidates for communicating with students and using instructional methods and techniques relatively to other skills. On the other hand, it was reported as being not much adequate with respect to preparing for communicating with parents and other staff at school, teaching students who need special education, and working under diverse conditions. The aspects of teacher education and teaching area were found to be the main factors/predictors of teacher candidates? assessment of their preparation. The problems mostly centered upon issues of teaching practices, social environment in faculties, theory-based lessons, and lack of guidance and follow-up. The teacher candidates made suggestions related to student admission to TE (using an ability exam), TE model/structure (continuous practice at schools belonging to each EF), and aspects of TE (practice-based lessons, emphasis more on communication skills, and starting practices earlier).