Practice Teaching Amidst the Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities

A.C. Bulawat¹

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.7 , Issue.5 , pp.19-26, May-2021

Online published on May 31, 2021

Copyright © A.C. Bulawat . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Practice teaching is an integral part of the teacher-education curriculum to prepare student-teachers to become full-fledged teachers. Through this, students-teachers experience becoming true teachers. Not only is this important in the teacher-education program because of the first-hand experiences it provides to student-teachers, but it is also an excellent opportunity for them to apply what they have learned regarding their profession and their field of specialization. This study aimed to determine what problems practice-teachers face in their practicum during the pandemic. Moreover, this study sought to determine what opportunities practice-teachers have achieved or seen in continuing their internship even though they are in the midst of a new normal caused by the pandemic. In the light of the findings obtained, the identified challenges were an amalgamation of teaching-related and personal-related challenges. Since the respondents had to adapt and adopt the learning delivery modality of the university, actual teaching experiences were limited only to almost three hours out of the prescribed 18-week practice teaching duration. Hence, their knowledge of teaching essentials, including lesson planning, students` discipline management, and students` differences, was not reinforced. Also, this pandemic intensified personal-inherent challenges like allowances and stress management.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Teacher Education, Practice Teaching, Pandemic, Challenges, Opportunities

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