Teaching Practicum : Student Teachers ’ Perspectives

Teaching practicum is a central component in any teacher education program regardless of the level of the program. It is also a time for student teachers to experiment with the knowledge obtained and put it into practice. Since this is their first real attempt in teaching, thus, problems are expected to arise as teaching is a very complex undertaking. Therefore, this study was conducted in our effort to understand what the student teachers went through during this short 12-week placement in school. It was also carried out to get insights into the way they dealt with the problems mentioned as well as into the suggestions given to the university as to further improve the program in the future. This study employed in depth interview with two informants who were chosen based on convenience sampling method as a way of gathering information. The informants were diploma in TESL students from a public university in Malaysia who had just completed their three month long teaching practicum. The findings indicated that the student teachers faced various challenges ranging from interpersonal to pedagogical issues. Suggestions and implications from the study were also discussed.