Expectations for the roles of cooperating teachers and university supervisors during the practice teaching period as perceived by university supervisors, cooperating teachers and student teachers

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the expectations of the triad members, namely university supervisors, cooperating teachers and student teachers regarding the roles and responsibilities of the university ELT supervisors and cooperating EFL teachers in Turkey. The study also aimed to investigate whether there were institutional differences in expectations for the university supervisors' and cooperating teachers' roles. Data were collected by means of questionnaires adapted for the purposes of the study. Participants of the study were 17 university supervisors, 116 cooperating teachers and 238 student teachers who were enrolled in the ELT departments of four universities in Turkey and their cooperating schools. Findings indicated a lack of clarity and consensus among the triad members regarding the roles of the university supervisors and cooperating teachers. Triad members achieved high consensus on few of the role definitions of the university supervisors but could not reach high consensus on any role definitions of the cooperating teachers. As for the expectations among the members of different institutions were concerned, no differences were observed among the university supervisors of different universities, whereas student teachers revealed differences in expectations for the roles of the university supervisors and cooperating teachers in certain areas. Findings imply that, despite the efforts of the Council of Higher Education to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the members of the triad, they do not seem to be well informed about their own roles and responsibilities and those of the other members of the triad.