Turkish primary science teachers’ perceptions of an ideal teacher education system

Abstract

The goals of this descriptive study were to determine Turkish pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of an ideal teacher education system. The sample consisted of 137 pre-service teachers, including 74 females and 63 males. The questionnaire was based on open-ended questions and was developed to investigate ideal teacher education system components as perceived by pre-service science teachers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The results of this study showed that the Turkish pre-service science teachers defined the ideal teacher education system components as the following: the personality of the teachers, the teacher educators as possessing professional knowledge, teacher education curriculum and professional development process. The results and implications of this study are discussed in the context of teacher education studies. Keywords: Teacher education, primary science teachers, ideal teacher education