Learning to Teach: A Case Study of Student Teachers’ Practicum and Policy Recommendations

Authors

Urip Sulistiyo, Jambi University
Amirul Mukminin, Jambi UniversityFollow
Kemas Abdurrahman, Jambi University
Eddy Haryanto, Jambi University

Abstract

This qualitative case study was conducted to gather information on the implementation of teaching practicum in order to improve the quality of the program in an English teacher education program at a state-owned university, Jambi, Indonesia. Information was gathered from five recent teacher graduates, five beginner teachers, five school principals, and five teacher educators on their perceptions of English Foreign Language Teacher Education Program (EFLTEP) graduates as beginner teachers. This qualitative study employed a background survey, document analyses and interviews for data collection. Document analyses were used to examine the aims and content of the English teacher education program and official Indonesian English teacher education curriculum and policies. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the main data from graduates and collect information from the beginner teachers. Interviews with principals and teacher educators were used to obtain further data and evidence about the beginner teachers’ knowledge and preparedness to teach. We organized our analysis, findings, and discussion around the implementation of teaching practicum. The analyses of the documents and texts revealed that major themes related to (1) the standards for implementing the teaching practicum in the program, (2) quality of the teaching practicum, (3) duration of the teaching practicum, (4) the roles of mentor teachers and teacher educators, and (5) selecting school partners for the student teacher practicum. Particularly, the findings indicated that teaching practicum projects undertaken during the program provided suitable but limited experience for student teachers to translate their knowledge learnt at university into the real practice of teaching at school levels. For future improvement of the program, the role of supervising teachers and teacher educators in assisting student teachers during the teaching practicum project should be a priority. The organisation and management of school–university partnerships for schools taking part in the teaching practicum require attention to maximise benefits to student teachers.

Keywords

Indonesian Student Teachers, Teacher Education, Educational Policy, Qualitative Case Study

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Urip Sulistiyo is a faculty member at Faculty of Education, Jambi University, Indonesia. He holds a PhD in education from RMIT in 2016. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: usulis2012@gmail.com

Amirul Mukminin is a faculty member at Faculty of Education, Jambi University, Indonesia. He holds a PhD from Florida State University, USAin Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and MS in educational sciences from GroningenUniversity, the Netherlands. He received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his PhD and an Erasmus Mundus postdoctoral researcher, Universityof Groningen, the Netherlands. He also received a 2016 Fulbright Senior Research award. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: amirmuk06@gmail.com

Dr. Kemas Abdurrahman is a faculty member at Faculty of Education, Jambi University, Indonesia.

Dr. Eddy Haryanto is a faculty member at Faculty of Education, Jambi University, Indonesia. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: eharyanto@gmail.com.

Publication Date

3-4-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2671

Recommended APA Citation

Sulistiyo, U., Mukminin, A., Abdurrahman, K., & Haryanto, E. (2017). Learning to Teach: A Case Study of Student Teachers’ Practicum and Policy Recommendations. The Qualitative Report, 22(3), 712-731. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2671