The Quality Issues on Teacher Training in Turkey: (original) (raw)

The Quality Issues on Teacher Training in Turkey: The Case of Prospective Teachers

Middle East Journal of Scientific Research

This study aimed to reveal prospective teachers’ opinions about the quality of education at faculties of education. The research was conducted in Buca Faculty of Education in 2011 with the participation of 147 prospective teachers in their senior year who were studying at 21 departments. Data were collected through open-ended questions. The results showed that 34% of the participants thought that the training in the faculty was not adequate for becoming a teacher and 38% of them emphasised that they did not obtain the right amount of knowledge, the positive attitudes and the skills necessary for being an effective teacher.

The Quest for Quality in Teacher Education in Turkey: The Abrogation of Teacher Programs from Secondary Education

European Journal of Educational Research, 2018

Within the scope of restructuring the secondary education efforts of the Ministry of National Education, it has been decided to abrogate the secondary school level teachers' schools. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Turkey's teacher education practices and the quest for qualified teacher education through the perceptions of the graduates of these high schools. The study is a phenomenological research based on interpretation. Data were obtained through interviews. The data obtained were analyzed in the vetting of candidate teachers, the curriculum to be used in the education process and its accreditation, and whom to be certified as teachers. The main results of this study, conducted with participants from the secondary school level teachers schools’ graduates, show that, in terms of teacher education, teachers' high schools present various opportunities by enrolling successful candidates, educating them as leaders, preparing them for multi-cultural environments. ...

Examining the Teacher Training Programs in Turkey Under the Light of Instructors Views

Dicle Üniversitesi Ziya Gökalp Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2016

The history of teaching profession dates back to ancient times and educating qualified teachers has always been seen as an important issue in all communities and ages. Qualified teachers have been said to affect the succes in the education systems to a great extent. Moreover, the subject of educating qualified teachers has a relation with the quality of the teacher training programs. In this context, examining the system and process of teacher education and restoration of the current system in accordance with the needs of our age can be said to have a vital importance. For these reasons, the aim of this study is to investigate the the instructors views on curriculum and student admission, training and graduation systems of the teacher training institutions in Turkey. By this way, existing problems of these institutions can be identified and some suggesstions cen be provided. With this aim, the researchers interviewed with 15 instructors working in Ziya Gökalp Education Faculty in Dicle University in the teaching and learning year of 2014-2015 and whose study field is especially on educational sciences. The descriptive analysis was used in order to analyze the data obtained from the interviews with instructors. The results of the analysis showed that the instructors are of the opinions that by taking the central exams as the only criteria for accepting students to teacher training programs and assigning system for graduate teachers are not approppriate practices and these kinds of practices negatively affect the training process of these institutions. Moreover the instructors mentioned that training the candidate teachers with certificate of "teacher profession knowledge" is scientifically and pedagojically inapproppriate and this kind of implementation negatively affect the quality of the teachers. Finally, the instructors emphasized that there is a serious deficiency of planning process in teacher training politics in Turkey and this kind of deficiency of planning negatively affect the quality of the universities and the teacher training programs.

Teacher Education Evaluating Views of Teacher Trainees on Teacher Training Process in Turkey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2013

The views of the teacher trainees who have recently started the teaching profession on teacher training process are of great value because they are new graduates and they are in their first year in the profession. Since the teachers in their first year in the profession do not have any experience, they have to pursue the educational tasks based on the knowledge and skills they acquired in their faculties. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the views of the teacher trainees on the process of teacher training in Turkey.Being qualitative in nature, the current research was a descriptive study. The study group involved 58 newly-appointed teacher trainees from different branches who began their teaching profession in Kastamonu in 2010. An "Interview Form" was used for data collection. The data collected from the participants were analysed through Nvivo 9 software package. As a result of the study, the teacher trainees indicated that they felt insufficient especially related to curriculum and content knowledge and that teaching practice and school experience courses do not adequately contribute to their profession

Evaluating Views of Teacher Trainees on Teacher Training Process in Turkey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2013

The views of the teacher trainees who have recently started the teaching profession on teacher training process are of great value because they are new graduates and they are in their first year in the profession. Since the teachers in their first year in the profession do not have any experience, they have to pursue the educational tasks based on the knowledge and skills they acquired in their faculties. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the views of the teacher trainees on the process of teacher training in Turkey.Being qualitative in nature, the current research was a descriptive study. The study group involved 58 newly-appointed teacher trainees from different branches who began their teaching profession in Kastamonu in 2010. An "Interview Form" was used for data collection. The data collected from the participants were analysed through Nvivo 9 software package. As a result of the study, the teacher trainees indicated that they felt insufficient especially related to curriculum and content knowledge and that teaching practice and school experience courses do not adequately contribute to their profession

Perceived quality of teacher education programs in Turkey: Basic issues and their application to Turkish public higher education institutions

2013

administrators and students, or between faculty and students. Phase 2 revealed some statistically significant relationships between the participants' academic positions-academic administrator, faculty member or student-and their level of agreement with the three academic quality components: Student Quality, Faculty Quality, and Curriculum Quality. Findings also revealed some significant reationships between participants' academic positions and their number one choice among the three academic quality components. Follow-up interviews revealed that participants had varying explanations for their number one choices. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

EVULATION OF TURKEY’S TEACHER TRAINING SYSTEM FROM THE VİEWPOINT OF EXPERIENCED TEACHERS (PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE)*

The purpose of this study is to evaluate past and present teacher training programs in line with ideas of experienced teachers and give suggestions about the future system. Partici-pants were 20 experienced teachers who graduated from Ordu-Perşembe Primary Teacher Training School and who have worked as teachers for at least 25 years. Qualitative re-search design was conducted and a semi-structured form including 12 questions was used. Content analysis was performed on the answers. The findings show some differences in teacher training system and teachers’ roles. Teachers were more social and prestigious in the past. However, most of them are now unwilling, distant from society and seen as official workers. The most important advantages of today’s teacher training system are technology usage and knowledge about global issues. Disadvantages are lack of practice and performance evaluation, and lack of emphasis on the affective domain of the teaching profession. It is thought that this study may provide new contributions to the construction of today’s teacher training system. Keywords: Teacher training system, experienced teacher, opinion, Turkey

Students' perceptions of education and teaching quality in a teacher training programme

Journal of Higher Education and Science, 2019

The aim of this study is to examine students' perceptions about the quality of education and teaching in a teacher education program. For this purpose, "Student Course Experience Scale" which was adapted to Turkish by Özcan (2013) and whose validity and reliability studies were completed was used. In addition, an online semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions was used to get detailed views of students on the quality of learning-teaching processes. The study included 74 students enrolled in a pedagogical formation certificate program of a private university. For quantitative analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA for independent samples were used, and for qualitative analysis, content analysis was used. Student perceptions of education and teaching quality did not differ significantly according to their gender or graduated programme. Findings from the data provide clues about student perceptions and understanding of the quality of their learning process, including where they need support, and in which areas they feel competent. The findings of this study provide insights for teacher training programmes, institutions, and teaching staff. This study also discusses the factors that should be considered for educating qualified and competent teachers.

The Problem of Teacher Training in Turkey

Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 2005

One of the problems of higher education in Turkey is related with teacher training. Therefore, in the center of the attempts for renewing the Turkish Higher Education system lies the problem of teacher training and thus this article evaluates the teacher training policies that are presently being applied by the Higher Education Council. In this article, first a brief review of the history of teacher training is done, and in relation to this, the teacher training model that is being implemented in line with the related national and international improvements is examined in terms of the programs, management policies, quality of education, course contents, etc. In addition, it is discussed whether the courses' being classified as compulsory, elective, theoretical, practical, world knowledge, pedagogical formation, etc and the courses' credit formats are suitable for the profession of teaching. Within this framework, first the problems observed in the coordination and cooperation issues between the Ministry of National Education that is responsible for the employment of teachers and the Higher Education Council that is responsible for the training of teachers are pointed out, and a new structure and model is proposed considering the universal improvements. In order to make the teacher training and employment compatible with the local, regional, national, and international expectations and requirements and to develop a more functional and applicable model, a flexible and dynamic teacher training policy must be applied. In this respect, considering the realities of today's world, a consistent balance should be provided between the conflicting and shared needs of the individual and the society. As an extension of this, special attention must be paid to the prospective teachers' attainment of an awareness of universal citizenship by including multi-cultural and multilingual programs. This will ease the process of the internalization of the universal values such as democracy and human rights that have become widespread with the influence of globalization. In this article, the view that current teacher training policies, in their present formats, cannot meet the requirements of the country is supported. To provide a basis for this argument, Turkish teacher training program is examined as a sample that demonstrates the characteristic features of this system. Accordingly, by pointing out the restrictive features of a single type program which is standardized through a strict and categorical perspective and whose application is made compulsory in all parts of the country by the central authority, the adoption of new policies based on the universal improvements in training branch and classroom teachers is proposed. In summary, this article analyzes the problem of teacher training in Turkey through a technical, academic, and scientific perspective and supports the reconstruction of the current teacher training model of higher education by emphasizing the special importance of the profession of teaching in today's conditions.

An Investigation of Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Teacher Quality in Turkey

Present study investigates the senior-level Turkish pre-service and inservice teachers' perceptions of teacher quality with a descriptive survey method. Data for this study were gathered through Teacher Quality Survey (TQS) and openended questions from 210 pre-service teachers enrolled in four different universities in Turkey and 147 in-service teachers from different majors. Results of the study showed that both pre-service and in-service teachers think that teachers' relationship with the students affect students' success and teachers should take the individual differences into consideration. Moreover, according to the pre-service teachers, teachers should know how to teach and assess what they teach, and they need to know time management. On the other hand, in-service teachers consider that teachers should follow current developments, should have the researcher identity and should understand students' needs and interests. Present study also suggested both academic and practical implications.