Abstract:

This case study investigated practicum experiences of pre-service teachers by focusing on their evaluation of mentor teachers, school experiences, and theory–practice relationships. Interviews were conducted with six teacher candidates, and observations in the participants’ practice schools were made. The results revealed that mentor teachers had both positive and negative qualities with respect to social support, professional support, and role-modeling mentoring functions. Moreover, pre-service teachers reported that they mostly experienced or felt difficulty in classroom management; parallel with this difficulty, their learning gains in classroom management were the highest. These teachers also emphasized that there was no relationship between theory and practice in teacher education and that developmental psychology and communication courses and those presenting teaching-related cases were effective at building readiness for the teaching profession. Based on the findings, several suggestions for future practices were proposed in the study.

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