Teacher Preparation Program: Alumni Perceptions and Technology Utilization

This study sought to contribute to discussions on the development of teacher education. It investigated teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the preparation program and explored the challenges that teacher candidates faced. Then, it suggested solution to utilize technology to tackle the challenges and improve the program. The target population was teachers who graduated from education program within the last five years, and are currently working as teachers. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. Results indicated that the agreement among participants about the effectiveness of the program was higher than disagreement, after assessing data from three teachers’ interviews and 22 teachers’ survey responses. An area for improvement includes enabling students to communicate their educational knowledge in Arabic. Participants’ responses highlighted the importance of linking the theory of teaching directly to practice and clarified the significance of choosing the schools and associate teachers wittingly to enrich the teacher candidate practicum experience. Survey results revealed 45% of participants disagreed that the program supports teacher candidates to communicate effectively with students’ parents. Forty percent of participants disagreed that the practicum period is sufficient and only 27% of participants agreed that the program equips teacher candidates with in-depth subject knowledge. These results might assist education policymakers in reaching informed decisions on the changes needed to improve the teacher preparation programs.