An Examination of the Preservice Teachers’ Personal Practical Theories

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the contents and sources of preservice teachers’ personal practical theories (PPTs) and the relationship between the contents and sources. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was carried out using a basic qualitative research design. The study group of the research was determined by criterion sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods. The data collection instrument was developed by the researcher. This instrument was developed with an understanding that allowed preservice teachers to externalize their PPTs, reason about the professional behaviors that their PPTs would result in, identify the sources of their PPTs, and recall the relevant memories that their PPTs originated from. Fifty-one preservice teachers studying in the eighth semester of the classroom teaching program were included in the study group of the research. Analyses were based on PPT statements labeled with 489 in vivo codes. The research data were obtained within the scope of a study titled "Personal practice-based theory construction" conducted with the participants for three weeks. Findings: Preservice teachers’ PPTs were analyzed under the themes of teacher, students, instruction, curriculum, classroom, and socio-cultural context of education. It was observed that the teacher candidates’ PPTs were mainly constructed on the teacher theme, through which the characteristics of high-quality teachers were explained. It was seen that about half of the teacher candidates’ PPTs were sourced from their experiences before they came to the faculty of education, while the lowest percentage of PTTs stemmed from the theoretical dimension of teacher education. Highlights: The most prominent of these is that teacher candidates constructed their PPTs predominantly on ideal teacher characteristics, while they paid less attention to the curriculum and socio-cultural context. An idealistic approach that placed too much emphasis on values was identified in the contents of the candidates’ PPTs. Although the candidates’ PPTs were largely compatible with the accepted theories, they need to be developed to transfer them into practice in a real classroom context.