Abstract
Teacher quality matters enormously in the total scheme of schooling and student learning. Teachers and their roles influence students’ performance in significant ways. Therefore, this study intended to finding out the perception of lecturers on the preparation and competence of student teachers in the Faculty of Education of the University for Development studies. The case study design was used for all the 33 lecturers with professional teacher education background in the Faculty of Education for the data collection. The finding of the study shows that 23 (70.8%) of the lecturers perceived the student teachers to be fair in their preparation while only 10 (29.2%) perceived their preparation to be good. In terms of competence, 25 (75.8%) and 8 (24.2%) of the lecturers perceived student teachers to be fair and good respectively. Based on the findings, the duration of teaching practice exercise could be increased to ensure that student teachers gain more experiences on the field before graduation.
Highlights
Education is recognized the world over as the single most important social institution that influences and is influenced by other social institutions
Majority of the lecturers 23(70.8%) considered the preparation of student teachers to be fair but none rated them poor while 10 representing 29.2% perceived the student teachers’ preparation to be good. This high percentage of the Lecturers perceiving the preparation of the student teachers to be fair implies that there are some lapses in the preparation of professional teachers at Faculty of Education
Lecturers perform virtually the same task in the training and preparation of student-teachers in the faculty and as such, gender, years of teaching and qualification may not make any significant difference in their perceptions of the competences and preparation of the student-teachers
Summary
Education is recognized the world over as the single most important social institution that influences and is influenced by other social institutions. Ijaiya (2008) observed in her study conducted in Nigeria that poor teaching skills is suspected as one major factor responsible for declines noticed in the quality of students graduating from school at different levels of education and poor students’ performance in public examinations She attributed these to problems in teacher preparation programs in Nigerian universities due to the quality of student in-take, deteriorating teaching-learning facilities and criteria for promotion of universities lecturers that do not support quality in teacher training. Alibi (2000) studied teacher preparation in Nigeria and found that though the subject matter preparation of studentteachers during their training was adequate, they had weak pedagogical skills due to such factors as inadequate planning, supervision and poor lesson delivery techniques demonstrated by trainee teachers in the Teaching Practice component of their training She recommended an adequate knowledge by all participants-students, participating school heads and teachers – through appropriate enlightenment programmes and workshops. This has made it imperative to find out the perception of the UDS, Faculty of Education lecturers on the preparation and competences of the student teachers they are training for both Basic and Senior High schools in the country and beyond
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