FIELD EXPERIENCE IN TEACHER EDUCATION: PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES

It is no longer adequate for pre-service teachers to learn skills of lesson planning and classroom management without having practice in authentic classroom environment. Field experience, therefore, has become an essential and integral element of teacher education. The present study explored pre-service teachers' perspectives on their field experience in kindergartens in Jordan. It particularly explored the difficulties faced by pre-service teachers during field training. At the end of their placement in kindergartens, pre-service teachers were interviewed and asked about their field experience. The findings revealed that the most frequently recurring difficulties faced by pre-service teachers were related to kindergarten environment, supervision, and theory-practice gap. In light of the study findings, some suggestions were introduced to improve field training programmes. For instance, it was suggested that cooperating kindergartens should be carefully chosen so that they can meet the training needs of pre-service teachers. Moreover, supervision should be more effective and consider pre-service teachers' concerns more seriously.