Perceptions of practicum actors in the primary teacher education practicum program

Abstract

This study looked at the perceptions of the three practicum actors (prospective teachers, placement school teachers (mentors), and teacher educators (tutors) of the primary teacher education practicum program of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. To that end, a mixed methods approach with a concurrent design was utilized. The quantitative data were collected from randomly selected 799 participants (290 prospective teachers, 252 placement school teachers, and 257 teacher educators) using a survey questionnaire; while the qualitative data were garnered using interviews and focus group discussions from 60 practicum actors. The data were analyzed quantitatively using mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA and qualitatively using descriptions and narrations. The findings revealed that although teaching practicum is supposed to be an imperative aspect of teacher learning that is instrumental to putting theories into practice, the overall perception of the three practicum actors was lower than the expected level. By far, student teachers’ and placement school teachers’ level of understanding of the basic assumptions of practicum in line with the reflective practitioner model of teacher education was minimal. Knowledge is still considered as transferring from the teacher to students, learning as receiving, and teaching as a process of transferring knowledge. Hence, continuous awareness creation on the basic assumptions of the reflective practitioner model of practicum and its core values is required. Besides, there should be a structure formed carefully of experts in teacher education to lead the program through strong school-college link and collaborative work of the hosting schools and teacher education colleges.