THE INVESTIGATION OF SCHOOL EXPERIENCE AND TEACHING PRACTICE I - II COURSES IN TERMS OF GENERAL TEACHER PROFFESSION COMPETENCE AND SELF EFFICACY BELIEFS OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS CANDIDATES
Project no. 672 · Status: Kapanmış · 2016
Summary
In this research, it was tried to examine how the classroom teacher candidates reflect the lessons they have taken in their undergraduate education to the teaching practices and how effective they are. In line with this purpose, the development of "general competence" skills related to the field of teaching within the scope of "School Experience" and "Teaching Practice I and II" courses of classroom teacher candidates and the change of "self-efficacy beliefs" have been examined. The sample of the research consisted of the teacher candidates who are studying in the third grade in the 2015-2016 academic year in the undergraduate program of Ege University Faculty of Education Primary Education Department. In the quantitative part of the research 53 teacher candidates were included; and 14 teacher candidates participated in the qualitative part. The study was a longitudinal study covering three academic periods and data were collected and evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. "General competence" and "self-efficacy" scales including demographic information of students were used for quantitative data; and "semi-structured interview form" was used when qualitative data were obtained. Descriptive analysis and paired samples t test s were used in the analysis of quantitative data. In the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis was used. In this analysis, the data were coded, the themes were found and the findings were defined and interpreted after the editing of the codes and themes. Findings obtained from the research are given in separate titles, quantitative and qualitative findings. The results of the research revealed that before going to the Teaching Practice courses, teacher candidates felt themselves enough in Mathematics and Turkish lessons and insufficient in Science lessons. In addition, it has been determined that they are most expected to gain experience in classroom management and classroom communication before going to the practical courses. The research also revealed that both the School Experience and the Teaching Practice courses have very weak effects on the candidates' views on their competences in the areas of assessment and evaluation. It is seen that all of the prospective teacher candidates’ suggestions for the lessons after school experience and teaching practice lessons are aimed at enriching the experience. Teacher candidates stated that they need not only the teaching process but also experience in school operation, teacher-manager relations, communication with parents and bureaucratic issues. They also need more and more different kinds of school experiences (private school, village school, unified class, etc.). They want to have both positive and negative experiences in terms of teacher, student and school. It is also said that the practice courses should start from the first years of their undergraduate years. Another result obtained in the research is that the preparation period of the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS), which is concentrated in the last semester, has affected the participation and interest of the students in the application courses negatively. The following suggestions can be made within the framework of the results obtained from the research: it may be possible to identify areas where pre-service teacher candidates feel insufficient and inadequate and contribute to their development by enabling them to gain experience, especially in areas where candidates feel insufficient. The content of the school experience course can be enriched by adding practices that allow more interactivity with the student, rather than only teacher candidates’ observation in the classroom. In addition to this, it can be considered that all of the application courses are structured so that the teacher candidates can give more experience in measurement and evaluation. In order to gain a realistic perspective on the teaching profession and teacher candidates’ own competences by gaini