School experience course practiced in the music teacher training institutions of Turkey and student teachers' experiences with regard to the mentioned course

Abstract

Student teachers' making practices at schools with the aim of preparing for the teaching profession in the school environment while educational processes are going on is a method having been approved and practiced all along in the teacher training programs. Intended for the development of the teacher training in Turkey, the Education Faculties were reconstructed between the years of 1994-1998 within the framework of the "HEC/ World Bank National Education Development Project Pre-Service Teacher Training" project, and since 1998, a common program has been in use in all the education faculties in the country. In the direction of this program, in addition to the Teaching Practice course included in the previous programs, the School Experience course was put into effect in order to have teacher trainees get accustomed to the school environment and to lengthen the time that they will spend at schools. In the study, it is aimed to reveal the practices regarding the School Experience course carried out at the Music Education programs of the Education Faculties in Turkey and to discuss the activities carried out within this course by taking expert opinions. In this context, the study appears to be important in terms of determining the extent to which the activities carried out within the scope of the School Experience course included in the programs prior to the Teaching Practice course prepare student for the Teaching Practice course an the kinds of contributions they make in transition to the profession of (Music) teaching.