Challenges in teaching practice at the college of education based on the perceptions of pre-service teachers: The case for Kuwait university

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate challenges in teaching practice from pre-service teachers’ perspectives. To achieve this purpose, a valid and reliable questionnaire with two domains was developed as follows: school and management; and design and implementation of lessons. A random sample of 128 senior students who attended the student training program was chosen as the unit of analysis. Results of the study indicated that challenges related to school and management were high primarily in the following two areas: large number of students in the classroom followed by school principals not interested in accepting pre-service teachers in their schools. With regard to the design and implementation of lessons, challenges were high in the following three areas: teaching competence requirements were not clear during teaching practice followed by the fact that pre-service teachers do not know laws or regulations related to teaching practice and finally inadequacy of the training period related to design and implementation of lessons. Significant differences were not detected based on gender and specialization. Finally, the study provided a number of recommendations for the field of study.