Teacher Education: The Relevance and Efficiency of Current Syllabi in Preparing Teachers for a Real Classroom

Abstract

Teacher education refers to policies and processes aimed at providing teachers with the information and skills they need to be effective educators and teach effectively; however, this is easier said than done. Therefore, comprehensive preparation of student-teachers would aid them performing well in educational and teaching contexts. Students of Tishk International University, Faculty of Education study for four years to go into real classrooms and teach. They go through many different phases, take different theoretical and practical courses, attend various extracurricular activities, and carry out practice teaching program in order to become effective teachers in our age of speed. This study endeavored to find the sufficiency and effectiveness of the program offered at the faculty via senior students and graduates’ perceptions. To do so, data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively. In the quantitative part, the study population comprised of seventy-one senior students and graduates from the Faculty of Education, whereas eight participants responded to the interview questions for the qualitative phase. The data were collected using a questionnaire and open-ended questions. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and descriptions. The result indicated that the overwhelming majority of the participants are satisfied with the whole program they received. A strong majority of the participants showed that they have gained a lot from the curriculum in many of the aspects necessary for teachers in the twenty-first century. Moreover, results unveiled positive attitudes of the respondents towards content, pedagogical, technological, and methodological knowledge they collected during years of study.