Mathematics and Science Student Teachers’ Perception of Their Teaching Practice:
Abstract
Teaching practice is an obligatory component of all teacher training programmes in Zambia. It prepares student teachers for a professional teaching career in a school. At the Copperbelt University, it prepares student teachers to teach Mathematics or Science in secondary schools. The implementation of teaching practice in Zambia involves the university lecturers as supervisors, school teachers as mentors and student teachers as participants. But the focus in this research was to get the perceptions of student teachers on their teaching practice. Questionnaires, student teachers‟ reports and a focus group discussion were used to collect data from the participants. The findings reveal that all student teachers regard teaching practice as important element in the training process. Student teachers stated that they were adequately prepared before they left for teaching practice. When student teachers went for teaching practice, they were welcomed at the schools, they taught well, learned more about teaching and classroom management skills. In addition, they appreciated the guidance given to them by their mentors and the supervisors. On the other hand, they faced challenge of a short teaching practice. They also faced challenges in the delivery of the subject matter because schools lacked teaching aids, laboratory equipment. Some student teachers in Mathematics, failed to adjust their teaching to lower classes in the school. To some extent the supervision was also a challenge because some supervisors where irregular in their supervision. Despite these challenges, at the end of the teaching exercise, students teachers felt confident, competent and experienced a sense of growth in their profession.