EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING: THE CASE OF KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Teacher education plays a significant role in the renewal and strengthening of countries' educational systems. Therefore, it has become an important issue in studies aimed at increasing the quality of teachers and ensuring the quality of teaching. It is stated that primary school teaching is in a different position both in terms of fields and relationships and that due importance should be given to the selection and training processes of primary school teachers. This situation recalls questions such as «How can primary school teachers be trained?» and «What can be done to improving the quality?». Every institution and individual within the education system is seeking answers to these questions and contemplating them. It is believed that determining the opinions of individuals who are at the center of education on teacher training will contribute to enhancing the quality of the teacher training process. Therefore, this study aims to determine the opinions of teacher candidates and instructors regarding improving the quality of teacher training. In this context, answers have been sought for the following questions: To improve the quality of primary school teacher training; (1) What are the opinions of prospective teachers? (2) What are the opinions of instructors? In line with these objectives, in this study qualitative research method has been used. For this purpose, interviews conducted with 25 prospective teachers enrolled in the primary school program at Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, as well as 10 instructors working in the mentioned department. The analysis of the data collected through a semi-structured interview form was evaluated using content analysis technique. Research results show that the most recurring theme is the need for more theoretical courses in the relevant curriculum and an increase in application courses.