Being a Teacher without Entering Classrooms - Pre-Service Teachers' Experiences in Online Teaching Practicum

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

Online teaching became the core response during the Covid-19 pandemic, reshaping teaching practicum implementation for pre-service teachers. This study examines pre-service teachers’ in-depth experiences in an online Teaching Practicum course, using a phenomenological design. With 15 participants selected through maximum variation sampling and three focus group interviews, content analysis identifies three themes: benefits, limitations, and practical ways to deal with difficulties in emergency remote teaching.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Online teaching practicum during Covid-19

Research design and participants

Themes: benefits, limitations, coping strategies

Being a Teacher without Entering Classrooms: Pre-Service Teachers' Experiences in Online Teaching Practicum1 Özge Öztekin Bayır Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Education, Eskişehir, Turkey, [osgeoztekin@hotmail.com](osgeoztekin@hotmail.com) Sabiha Dulay Bahçeşehir University, Faculty of Educational Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey, [sabiha.dulay@es.bau.edu.tr](sabiha.dulay@es.bau.edu.tr) Esra Tekel Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Education, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, [esracakmak88@hotmail.com](esracakmak88@hotmail.com) To prevent the disruption of education and training activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, distance education was started, and applied courses were continued with online methods. The aim of this study was to do in-depth examination of the experiences of pre-service teachers regarding the online Teaching Practicum course they took during the Covid-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the phenomenological design was adopted in the study. The study group consisted of 15 pre-service teachers determined with maximum variation sampling and three different focus group interviews were conducted. Content analysis was used to reveal the experiences ofthe preservice teachers. The views of the participants were grouped under three themes: (i) benefits of online teaching practicum, (ii) limitations of online teaching practicum, and (iii) ways to deal with difficulties. Keywords: teaching practicum, pre-service teacher, emergency remote teaching, covid-19 pandemic, teacher training INTRODUCTION Education faculties train future teachers, or pre-service teachers, and are considered as institutions offering initial education to teachers to prepare them for the teaching profession. The course of teaching practicum, which is taken by senior pre-service teacher in teacher training faculties, is one of the most important dimensions of teacher education (White & Forgasz, 2016) . The teaching practicum course, which we can consider as a pre-service training aiming to increase the professional competencies of teacher candidates by providing them with content knowledge, general culture, and pedagogical competencies, which are all the pillars of the teaching profession (Eti & Karaduman, 2020), functions as a bridge by establishing a balance between theory and practice (Allsopp et. al., 2006) . Thus, this course helps them step into the profession by being equipped and by integrating theory and practice during the teacher training process (CoHE, 2018) . According to Darling-Hammond (2017), the teaching practicum provides pre-service teachers with the opportunity to develop themselves. In addition to putting into practice the content and pedagogical 1 This study was presented as an oral presentation at the 7th International Conference on Lifelong Education and Leadership for ALL held on University of Sarajevo between 24-26 August 2021. Citation: Bayır, Ö . Ö ., Dulay, S., & Tekel, E. (2022) . Being a teacher without entering classrooms: Pre-service teachers' experiences in online teaching practicum. Anatolian Journal of Education, 7(2), 31-48. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2022.724a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2022.724a) knowledge they have learned through the teaching practicum (Barton [et. al](et. al)., 2015), pre-service teachers also develop strategies to cope with the problems that arise in real classroom environments by breathing the air of the school environment (Lawson et al., 2015) . The aforementioned dimension of gaining hands-on experience makes the teaching practicum an integral and compulsory part of teacher training (Varela [et. al](et. al)., 2019). Schulz (2005) states that with the teaching practicum, pre-service teachers implement new ideas by using their critical thinking skills. The fact that pre-service teachers think deeply about the quality of their teaching practices allows them to recognize their weaknesses and strengths. Arnett and Freeburg (2008) point out that pre-service teac

FAQs

What is the aim of the study about online teaching practicum?

The study aims to provide an in-depth examination of pre-service teachers’ experiences in the online Teaching Practicum course taken during the Covid-19 pandemic.

How was the research conducted?

A phenomenological design was used. The study group included 15 pre-service teachers selected via maximum variation sampling, and three focus group interviews were conducted.

What themes summarize the participants’ views?

Participant views were grouped into three themes: benefits of online teaching practicum, limitations of online teaching practicum, and ways to deal with difficulties.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel