The problems that teacher candidates encounter during teaching practice curriculum and solutions offered

Abstract

Abstract

The purpose of the study is identifying the problems that teacher candidates encounter during teaching practice curriculum and to offer solutions for these problems. The study was carried out using ‘nested multiple cases design’, which is a type of case study method. The study group in the study consists of 322 final year students who attend the teaching practice curriculum in their final year of training at the Faculty of Education of various universities in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey (i.e. Departments of Social Studies, Turkish Language Education, Primary School Education, Science and Technology at Fırat University, Erzincan University, İnönü University, Atatürk University, Dicle University and Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University). The data which were obtained using semi-structured interview forms were analyzed by means of content analysis using NVivo 8 qualitative data analysis software. At the end of the research, the problems faced by teacher candidates were categorized in six main categories and sixty themes; and solutions suggested for these problems were categorized in six main categories and forty four themes. The teacher candidates emphasized two main problem categories among a number of problems about teaching practice curriculum. These two main categories identified involve problems arising from themselves and problems arising from the practice teachers.