Surviving uncertainty: the impact of COVID-19 policies on the teaching practicum in Turkey

Abstract

The pandemic outbreak has yielded tremendous uncertainty in educational procedures worldwide, with teaching practicum among the most challenged areas. The internal actors in practicum (supervisors, mentor teachers, and pre-service teachers) had to go through an unprecedented process. In this respect, this study aims to scrutinise the experiences of teacher educators and pre-service teachers to unearth the influence of educational policies on COVID-dominated practicum, based on the data from nine universities in seven different regions across Turkey. Data obtained via interviews with teacher educators (9 supervisors and 11 mentors) and qualitative surveys with 35 pre-service teachers were analysed from an exploratory lens. The results indicate that educational policies during the pandemic and lack of a standard policy negatively influenced practicum experience and teacher learning. We suggest that professional flexibility and adaptive expertise are of utmost importance for teacher education, as a discipline both susceptible and responsive to radical changes in society.