THE CHALLENGES FACED BY PRESERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS DURING TEACHING PRACTICE

Year 2015, Volume: 2 , 40 - 42, 01.09.2015

Nurcan Cansız Mustafa Cansız

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges of teaching preservice science
teachers (PSTs) articulated within the context of their practice teaching in
mentor schools. Six PSTs were interviewed at the end of their fourth year in
science teacher education program. All PSTs completed their practice teaching
in the same mentor school. They observed two different science teachers in six,
seven, and eight grade science classrooms as well as teach in those classrooms.
The constant comparative method was used to analyze their interview data. The
results indicated that PSTs encountered five main challenges during their
teaching practice. All PSTs expressed that there were students with
disabilities in the mentor school and they were not trained for teaching
science in inclusive classrooms. As a result, those disable students were not
involved in classroom activities. The next problem PSTs identified was that
they were not allowed to make enough teaching practice in mentor schools due to
mentor teachers’ concerns about covering the curriculum. The third one they
clarified was that they do not have enough pedagogical content knowledge.
Preservice science teachers also experienced problems with classroom assessment
and classroom management due to lack of enough training. Although they took one
course for measurement and evaluation, they thought they were not knowledgeable
enough for assessing science learning effectively.  In terms of classroom management, they
believed that they learned the theory but they lacked practice. Results were
discussed and implications were made for teacher education programs. 

Keywords

Teaching practice, teacher education, preservice science teachers, science education

References

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