To Be Anxious or Not: Student Teachers in the Practicum

Gonca Yangın Ekşi,Burçak Yılmaz Yakışık

doi:10.13189/ujer.2016.040610

Abstract

High levels of teaching-related anxiety may cause high levels of stress, failure and disappointment in pre-service teachers. The factors that increase anxiety and those that reduce it for student teachers might also be culture-specific. This study was conducted on 52 pre-service language teachers at a state university in Turkey during their practicum. Rather than investigating the anxiety levels of student teachers, the study aimed to find out the reason why they experienced, or did not experience anxiety with reference to culture specific reasons. This was done by focusing on factors that reduce or provoke practicum anxiety. A questionnaire comprising 25 open-ended questions was developed from the Student Teacher Anxiety Scale (STAS). The items in the scale were converted into questions and the participants were asked to clearly state why they felt anxious or easy. The responses were analysed through content analysis and then quantified to show frequencies. The findings indicated that the student teachers experienced anxiety due to the stress of being evaluated, as well as problem behaviour in the classroom. The results also revealed that helpful and supporting staff at the host school reduces teaching anxiety. The student teachers also felt at ease with a supervisor that they had a partnership with from the micro-teachings in their methodology courses through to supervision in their practicum. The findings are discussed and suggestions regarding improvement in practice teaching are suggested.

Highlights

An indispensable component of any teacher education program is the Teaching Practice, or the Practicum
The STs felt at ease because they believed that their training and micro-teachings that they had done earlier qualified them to prepare materials and lesson plans, and manage classrooms effectively
The practicum is a vital component of teacher training programs

Summary

Introduction

An indispensable component of any teacher education program is the Teaching Practice, or the Practicum. Though often cited as a valuable stage of teacher training, the practicum can be a source of stress, worry and concern for student teachers (Behets, [6]; Danyluk, [7]; D’Rozario & Wong, [8]; McBride, [9]; Murray-Harvey, Silins & Saebel, [10]; Murray-Harvey, Slee, Lawson, Silins, Banfield & Russell, [11]; Wendt & Bain, [12]). In Chaplain’s study [16], student teachers reported behaviour management, workload and lack of support as major causes of stress in their practicum experience. In their study of Turkish English Foreign Language (EFL) teacher candidates, Aydın and Bahçe [19] report classroom management as the most cited source of anxiety (43%); other factors that cause anxiety are the teaching process, relationship with the students, and problems caused by the student teachers' status

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