Assuring Quality in Teacher Education: Extent of Implementation of Professional Standards in Science Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Professional standards in teacher preparation should be strictly implemented to achieve quality education. This study investigated pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of the extent of implementation of teaching practice and microteaching benchmarks that assure quality teacher preparation in Abia State, Nigeria. 200 pre-service science teachers (98 females and 102 males), drawn from a population of 422 final year pre-service science teachers in two public-owned universities in Abia state made up the sample for the study. The instrument for data collection which had a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.72 was a 15-item, researcher-developed, modified Likert-type rating scale titled “Professional Standards in Science Teacher Preparation Questionnaire”. The items of the instrument were adapted from principles guiding teaching practice as given by the Nigeria teacher education policy. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The results indicated amongst others that some professional standards in teaching practice and microteaching which assure the quality of teacher education were not fully implemented in public universities in Abia State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended, among others, that: teacher education institutions should use specialists in students’ field of study for teaching practice supervision; and that student teachers be paid stipends during the teaching practice exercise to encourage them.