Abstract:

Professional knowledge courses (PKC) at education faculties are designed to educate high quality teachers. This study aims to examine the views of education faculty lecturers, graduates and senior year students about the place and implementation of PKC in teacher education. The study group of the qualitative study included lecturers (20), senior year (22) and graduate (12) students who agreed to take part in the study. Data were collected by using semi structured interview forms. Focus group interviews of 30-45 minutes were held with individual lecturers and graduates, and with groups of 3-5 senior year students. For data analysis, a list of codes was made. Relavant codes were brought together for thematic coding. Analyses of lecturer and student views on PKC revealed the following themes: General perceptions, content, implementation, quality of lecturers, measurement and evaluation in PKC, teaching practice, educational environments, educational system - policies, and recommendations. The study concludes with teacher education recommendations based on the findings.

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