Expectations and Experiences of Pupil Teachers during Teaching Practice: Theoretical and Practical Implications

The purpose of the study was to explore expectations and experiences of pupil-teachers during their teaching practice session. The paper examines how the theoretical coursework of pupil teachers support them and hamper them during their teaching practice. What are the practical considerations that they need to keep in mind and what issues they face. For this purpose a sample of 35 pupil-teachers of M. A. Early childhood Education program was randomly selected. An observation schedule was prepared to observe them during their teacher practice. An interview protocol was also designed to get their views on theoretical and practical aspects of their teaching experiences. Collected data were analyzed qualitatively with content analysis technique to get deeper understanding of the problem. Results showed that there was a mismatch between theoretical coursework and practical teaching work. The pupil-teachers' expectations were very high and they had passion to work but they experienced nonprofessional attitude of cooperating teachers. Data also showed that the pupil teachers' training during course-work was professionally weak, particularly in the areas of interactive teaching methods, classroom management, evaluation techniques and educational psychology. It suggests more focus on practical side of training rather than theoretical. It was suggested that there might be more practical and activity oriented material and training sessions during their coursework along with proper supervision and guidance. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Dr. Zafer Bekirogullari.