1. Trainee Teachers’ Readiness Towards Teaching Practice: The Case of Malaysia
Shireena Basree Abdul Rahman
Nabilah Abdullah
Radzuwan Abd Rashid
Faculty of Education Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia
Abstract
Teaching in the 21st
century is characterized primarily by reforms in the curriculum
and methods of teaching. (Beeman,1998). This is primarily due to the various
knowledge and technological advancements that has taken place over the past
decade. Successful teachers of the 21st
century need to play multiple roles – as
guides, coaches, facilitators and advisers (Churches, 2008). He further explains that
lessons should be “student centric, holistic and focus should be teaching about how
to learn as much as teaching about the content or subject areas”. It is no more
sufficient for teachers to be purely “dispensers of knowledge , instead, the move is
towards teachers needing to spend more time thinking about the ways in which they
can facilitate the process by which students learn (Beeman, 1998). The changes in
the current teaching and learning scene effects not only the existing practicing
teachers, in fact, it calls for serious impending reviews of teacher training programs
offered by universities and teacher –training colleges. The study was carried out
with the aim to identify and subsequently address challenges and issues faced by
trainee teachers during their school attachment program or teaching practice.
Specifically, the researchers investigated the current scenario of the practicum
process via examining challenges that trainee teachers encounter in schools, and
identifying the needs and expectations of the trainees as well as those of the schools’.
A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed to final year education students who
have gone for their teaching practice. In addition to the survey, in-depth data were
also obtained through interviews conducted on selected trainees and school mentors.
Preliminary findings suggest that the teacher education program has, across
programs, adequately prepared the trainees with respect to the subject matter
content. Nonetheless, certain areas such as application of theories into actual
classroom practice, managing disciplinary actions, knowledge of school
management, among others, needed improvement. Hence, this suggests a review of
the current structure and content of courses provided in the Bachelor of Education
programs. This is to ensure that the teacher education programs provided would be
able to produce quality trainees who are able to meet the demands of classroom
teaching and learning in the 21st
century.
Keywords: teacher training program, readiness and the new millenium

2. Introduction
Today’s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how
students live and how they learn. Schools are struggling to keep pace with the
astonishing rate of change in students' lives outside of school. Students will spend
their adult lives in a multitasking, multifaceted, technology driven, diverse, vibrant
world--and they must arrive equipped to do so.
(http://www.thegateway.org/help/archived-p21-pages/teaching-learning- retrieved 29-4-2010)
Teaching in the 21st century has become more demanding than ever. Teachers of this era
are often characterized as needing to have the necessary skills and knowledge to cope with the rapid
technological advancement and changes that are rapidly taking place all in the field of education.
The important skills and demands of the 21st
century include that of being able to engage in critical,
analytical and creative thinking. The more profound shift is of course the sudden surge in focus and
attention given to what is called “technological literacy” (Silva, 2009) which includes information
science skills, digital media fluency, advanced computer and internet communications, as well as
the newborn term –“technacy” a deep knowledge of technological systems (Silva, 2009)
Apart from being up-to date with the technological-know-how, there is also another current
trend of belief in the discussion of what constitutes the essence of the 21st century skills that all
students needs to be equipped with and this is “an emphasis on what students can do with the
knowledge, rather than units of the knowledge they have” (Silva, 2009). In other words, the shift is
towards practical and meaningful skills which are applicable in the classroom is seen to be
predominantly important rather than courses which are theoretical or historical in nature. This is
because, such skills are seen as less relevant and beneficial for students, in facing the challenges of
the 21st century.
21st
Century Teachers
In trying to meet the expectations and challenges of the 21st
century education and
increasing global competition, teachers need to be equipped with an array of knowledge, ranging
from generic skills such as analytical and problem-solving skills, personal and inter-personal
communication skills, management negotiation and organisational skills, together with the ability to
apply these skills in a range of unique situations (Joshi & Chugh, 2009). It is no more sufficient for
teachers to be comfortable with the content knowledge that they have gained during their
undergraduate education, in fact, they are expected to constantly improve themselves, both in terms
of content and pedagogical knowledge to come with the rapid changes that are taking place in the
school environment every day. It is also argued that teachers of the 21st
century technology need to
be exposed to the latest information and techniques in teaching, learning and their ability to apply
these skills in contemporary environment is becoming imperative (Joshi & Chugh, 2009)

3. Teacher Education in the New Millennium
The current trends and changes that are taking place in the field of education in this new
millennium has, in one way or another, has called for a re-look into kind of training that should be
provided for would be teachers who will be taking their place in schools. There is an imperative
need to re-evaluate the teacher training curriculum to see if it met the current needs and demands of
the schools. The urge for the re-evaluation is reflected by the rising research pertaining to such
issues carried out worldwide. For instance, research conducted by Way and Holden (2009) in
University of Wisconsin-Madison involving 1,200 K12 teachers revealed that these teachers
demanded for more training to develop capacity to teach financial education topics as they believed
that financial management is one of the main issues among their students. Whilst Gnawali (2010)
points out that there is something wrong in the teacher training curriculum in Nepal as he found that
English teachers who had gone for a teacher training program did not show any development in the
teaching methodology after coming back to the schools. In Vietnam, Belgian Development Agency
(2010) demands for changes in the teacher training curriculum as they found that traditional
practices are still commonly used, requiring students to learn by rote and hinders their active
participation and discouraging independent thinking and creativity. All these show that re-
evaluating teacher education in the new millennium is a global issue that needs to be addressed
carefully so that it could benefit both the teachers and the students. Thus this research was born out
of concern to re-evaluate the teacher training program in Malaysia and suggest necessary reforms
that could be taken so that it would not be left behind in meeting the challenging needs and
demands of the new millennium.
Research Objectives
This study was carried out with the following objectives:
1. To find out students’ level of general readiness towards practicum teaching;
2. To identify Malaysian trainee teachers’ perception towards the challenges encountered
during teaching practice; and
3. To investigate the needs of trainee teachers prior to going for practicum.
Research Questions
The research questions that forms the basis of this study is as listed below:
1. What are the trainee teachers’ levels of general readiness towards practicum teaching?
2. What are Malaysian trainee teachers’ perceptions towards the challenges encountered during
teaching practice?
3. What are the trainee teachers’ needs prior to going for practicum?
Methodology
This study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to data
collection. The research respondents are final year students who have gone for their teaching
practice in schools in the previous semester. These students are enrolled in different teacher
education programs namely science (biology, physics and chemistry) education, mathematics
education, Teaching of English as Second Language (TESL), and physical and health education.

4. Data for this study was obtained using two methods. A questionnaire was used to collect data on
the adequacy of practicum preparation prior to going for teaching practice, as well as the
experiences the participants encountered in schools. Except for open-ended questions, students
are required to indicate their agreement or disagreement (on a scale of 1=strongly disagree to
10=strongly agree) to other given items. Selected respondents were also interviewed to obtain
input on how aspects of practicum process could be further improved.
Findings
From a total of 200 students who went for practicum in schools during the second semester of
2009, 150 responded to the questionnaire. The distribution of respondents by program and
gender is as follows:
Table 1: Demographic profile by program and gender
Program
Gender
Total
Male Female
TESL 22 51 73
Math Education 8 17 25
Biology Education 2 10 12
Chemistry Education 7 11 18
Physics Education 4 14 18
Physical & Health Education 4 0 4
TOTAL 47 103 150
Apart from the demographic profile, the questionnaire also sought respondents’ perception
towards, and reflection of the processes involved before and during teaching practice. Specifically,
section b of the questionnaire tapped into students’ practicum readiness and school experience.
Practicum readiness refers to the extent of student preparedness prior to the teaching
practice. Among the dimensions looked into include the students’ awareness of teacher’s roles and
responsibilities, English language proficiency, capacity to work with other people, knowledge and
skills related to teaching, and problem solving ability. Analysis on the students’ level of readiness
for teaching practice is as follows:

5. Table 2 : Respondents’ general level of readiness
Level of Readiness Frequency Percentage
High 84 59.2
Medium 57 40.1
Low 1 0.7
Out of 142 valid responses, the majority of respondents (n=84, 59.2%) fell under the high
readiness category. Only one (0.7%) respondent is low in readiness while the remaining 57 (40.1%)
are moderately ready for their teaching practice. Further analysis for practicum readiness by the five
dimensions highlighted earlier shows the respondents obtained highest mean score for awareness of
teachers’ responsibilities. The respondents, in other words, knew what were expected of them in
schools, believed that their behavior and conduct fit that of a teacher, and understood what it takes
to be in charge of co-curricular activities. The dimension which the respondents were least ready is
their proficiency in English language.
Table 3: Respondents’ practicum readiness
Practicum Readiness Component Mean Standard
Deviation
Awareness of teachers’ roles and
responsibilities
7.61 1.14
English language proficiency 6.79 1.41
Capacity to work with other people 7.06 1.02
Knowledge and skills related to teaching 6.98 1.16
Problem solving ability 6.91 1.14
Statistical analysis comparing practicum readiness by gender showed no differences in
perception of practicum between male and female. Similarly, a look into the relationship between
students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and practicum readiness revealed there is no
relationship between the two. This shows that CGPA does not influence the respondents’
perception towards teaching practice. Analysis of variance by different programs, however,
indicated there is significant difference for all practicum readiness dimensions except for English
language proficiency. But the post hoc test ran on the data revealed no real significance difference
exist.

6. Logically, students’ level of readiness towards teaching practice will influence their school
experience. School experience here refers to what the students went through when teaching in
schools. The dimensions of school experience include being able to carry out teachers’ roles and
responsibilities, capable of handling and solving problems, possess the competence to work with
others, and know what it takes to carry out lessons in school. Specifically, knowledge related to
teaching encompassed aspects of lesson planning and implementation. Students’ accounts of their
school experience have been categorized into three: good, moderate and bad.
Table 4: Respondents’ general school experience
School experience Frequency Percentage
Good 6 4.4
Moderate 130 94.9
Bad 1 0.7
From the above table, six respondents reported having trouble-free, enjoyable experience in
school. For these students, they adjusted well to the school culture, had no problems planning and
carrying out lessons, managed to motivate and manage students’ behavior and were perceived by
others as having competently carried out their roles and responsibilities as trainee teachers in
schools. 130 others claimed their experiences in school were moderate, perhaps with occasional
difficulties in the highlighted school dimensions while one student described her experience as
relatively bad. Thirteen people were not included in the valid list of respondents.
Descriptive statistics on responses pertaining to school experience revealed students
obtained highest mean score (x = 7.27, SD = 0.94) for capacity working with other people. It could
be said that students, in general, were able to adapt to the school culture fairly easily and were able
to interact, cooperate and work with others, including students, amicably.
Table 5: Respondents’ school experience: by dimension
School Experience Dimension Mean Standard Deviation
Teachers’ roles and responsibilities 7.15 0.97
Knowledge related to teaching
Planning 6.70 0.86
Implementation 6.80 0.77
Problem solving ability 6.46 1.03
Capacity to work with other people 7.27 0.94

7. On the other hand, the lowest mean score (x = 6.46; SD = 1.03) obtained was for problem
solving ability dimension. Among the challenges encountered by the respondents concerns
managing students’ behaviour in class, figuring out and applying specific theories to motivate
students in class, and finding out the sources of students’ difficulties when learning specific topics.
The respondents, in other words, are lacking in critical thinking and decision making skills needed
to react to issues related to classroom management.
Comparison of school experience dimensions’ mean score by educational program shows
that all respondents rated problem solving dimension the lowest. Within that dimension, TESL
respondents were found to have the lowest score with a mean score of 6.14. Apart from TESL
respondents, those majoring in Mathematics Education, Biology Education and Chemistry
Education also obtained the low scores for the same dimension. Perhaps, these trainee teachers do
not possess good problem solving skills because they are not exposed to problem-based learning
approach in the teacher training curriculum. Tan (2004) affirms that it is through problem-based
learning that learners develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Unfortunately, in
Malaysia, problem-based learning is relatively something very new which is not yet widely applied
across disciplines especially to that of teaching and learning in the ESL context (Radzuwan, 2010).
Apart from the problem solving dimension, TESL respondents also scored lowest for both
planning and implementation of teaching dimensions of school experience, suggesting that teaching
English in Malaysian schools is not only testing but also exigent for the trainee teachers. Online
survey conducted by British Council in 2010 revealed that English teachers all over the world face
few similar problems when teaching English in school. The problems are overcrowded classrooms,
the bad behaviour of students, attitudes of parents, attitudes of educational managers, demands of
the syllabus, teaching too many hours, lack of support, and lack of training and development
opportunities. Even though this survey was not specifically carried out in Malaysian context, it is
believed that trainee teachers in Malaysia face similar problems when teaching English in schools.
Meanwhile, the Physical and Health Education (PHE) respondents obtained lowest mean
scores for teachers’ roles and responsibilities, as well as implementation of teaching dimensions.
This finding seems to give raise an old issue put forth by Placek (1983) as cited in Hickson and
Fishburne (2005) that PHE teachers regard their lessons as successful when students are busy,
happy and good without giving much attention to whether or not students’ are actually learning.
This is perhaps largely due to the fact that because in university, they are by and large exposed to
the theoretical foundations of sports and health-related in class. Whereas, when in schools they have
to actually apply theory into practice; hence teaching is very hands-on. Perhaps lack of experience
to put into operation theoretical knowledge into practice have actually contributed to the
perceptions that implementation of lesson are difficult and that they have not been able to carry out
the roles and responsibilities of PHE teachers effectively.
Data from Table 5 also showed Physics Education respondents scored the lowest for
working with others dimension. The findings suggest respondents took longer time to adapt to the
school culture, encountered more difficulties getting others to cooperate in activities they organize
or handle, and felt others were not quite comfortable working with them. This finding reflects a
concomitant setting to the finding of the previous research carried out by Eryilmaz and Ilaslan
(1999) who found that pre service Physics teachers had very low knowledge of classroom
management, sociology and psychology as well as knowledge of teaching methods and school
administration. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why pre service Physic teachers involved in this

8. study faced difficulties in schools. They are not equipped with enough skills to engage students in
classroom activities and how to socialize with others in the school.
Table 6 : Mean Score of School Experience Dimension by Program
PROGRAM
SCHOOL EXPERIENCE DIMENSIONS
TchResp Planning Implement ProbSolvg WorkWOth
TESL 7.04 6.55 6.69 6.14 7.22
Math Education 7.23 6.61 6.73 6.57 7.23
Biology Education 7.48 7.13 6.98 6.85 7.57
Chemistry Education 7.28 6.98 7.16 6.87 7.63
Physics Education 7.25 6.90 6.91 6.90 6.95
Physical & Health
Edu
6.79 6.84 6.69 6.56 7.57
Open-Ended Questions
Areas that students’ need improvement on
An open ended question was posed to the trainees to elicit their views on what are the
aspects related to teaching which they think they should improve on before having gone for their
practicum. A study of the recurring themes revealed that their main concern were still rooted to the
basic mechanics of teaching and this can be grouped under three main sub-headings:
1. Content and pedagogy
2. Classroom management
3. Inter-personal skills
It was very obvious from the feedback gathered, that the students generally felt that they
needed more exposure in terms of content knowledge and pedagogic skills which to them are most
crucial in determining the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom. In fact,
more than half of the trainees shared this same concern. They must be feeling that they are not apt
or ready to teach because they lack in the skills mentioned above.
In terms of content knowledge and teaching pedagogy, many felt that they were still lacking
in skills such a, preparing effective lesson plan . This included preparing for an effective set
induction, lack of exposure to new methods and approaches which can be used in teaching,
preparation of authentic teaching materials and teaching aids/ materials. Apart from that, they were
also concerned about the type/kind of activities that were carried out in the classroom. There is a
generally consensus that they needed to be exposed to how to use creativity in the classroom
especially through incorporating games and ICT in the classroom

9. Apart from concerns relating to content and pedagogy, the trainees also voiced their concern
over their lack of classroom management skills which they feel needs to be looked at and stressed
on. Students find that they are relatively ill-prepared in how to handle misbehaviour among students
and also how to manage students’ behaviour in the classroom.
Finally, there is a general concern with regard to handling inter-personal skills. This
involves dealing with colleagues, dealing with students and personal skills within the context of the
school and departments. These are the three areas which trainees find most challenging and which
they feel that they need to be equipped with more information in order for them to function and
participate well in school.
New Courses Needed
In the open-ended section of the questionnaire, trainees were also ask to reflect on the
subjects that they took during their B.Ed program and suggest if there are other courses which they
deem necessary to be included in the 4 year program. Although the trainee comes from different
background or area of specialization, they generally had similar concerns as to which subject should
be included. Among the areas that received students attention is classroom management. This
include handling difficulties in the classroonm, dealing with students behaviour and handling of
adolescents. This seems to suggest that students feel that they are pedagogically ill-prepared, but
content wise, they seemed apt at it.
Aside from classroom management, there was also a need for the practical aspect of
assessment that students feel that they lack of. This include practical skills like marking students
essay work, and how to mark papers, test papers. For science students, another big category arised
and that is laboratory skills and how to prepare teaching aids for science subjects.
Courses that should be removed
Teacher trainees were also asked the question as to what are the current courses that should
be considered to be removed from the program to make way for some of the courses which were
suggested in the previous section. The general pattern of feedback shows that students found
subjects which are theoretical and historical in nature, most unuseful , hence, they are in the opinion
that these course should be substituted with other more practical and relevant courses which are
directly useful for them in the classroom. They generally share similar opinions that generic
subjects such as Foundation of Education, Education in Malaysia, TITAS, and Sociology should be
removed from the content of the degree course. For the science students on the other hand, subjects
such as Philosophy of Science, Industrial Chemistry and Analytical chemistry were seen as least
useful and should be taken off from the four year degree programme.
Helpful Courses
The trainees were also asked to list down courses which they found useful during their
practicum stint in schools. It is interesting and expected to observe that the students found most
methods or pedagogy courses to be the useful ones which has helped them in their practicum.
Among the courses which almost all of them felt was useful include, all methods courses,
Educational Psychology, Classroom management and Counselling classes . For the TESL students,

10. the range of courses which they found helpful were also related to the main areas listed above,
which includes PELT (Principles in English Language Teaching) and CALL (Computer Assisted
Language Learning). For the math and science students, the list of subjects which they found useful
are method of teaching math and science, problem solving in science and science in society.
Clearly, what the trainees find useful are practical courses which provide information and
knowledge which they can directly apply in the classroom. Perhaps this also suggests the kinds of
content and pedagogical knowledge which teacher trainers need to be aware of. At the end of the
day, the crux of the issue remains that teacher are looking for things that they can make use of in
the classroom, practical and helpful information.
Not helpful courses
The trainees were also asked to list down the courses that they found not helpful in the 4
year degree programme that they majored in. A close analysis of the items listed under the heading
of “not so helpful courses” shows a lot similarity to the item which they listed for the item
“courses that should be removed” from the programme. This highlights that there is a certain degree
of consistency in the feedback given by trainees. Among the subjects that they found not helpful
are Sociology, Education in Malaysia, Foundation of Education, TITAS, CTU and Ethics.
On the other hand, the science students found subjects such as industrial chemistry, physical
and analytical chemistry as being not helpful for them in their teaching. The clear pattern that can
be derived from the feedback given is that, students are in the opinion that courses which are
theoretical, philosophical and historical in nature, which do not lend themselves directly to
classroom usage, are not helpful and should therefore be replaced from the four year programme.
What do teachers need to improve on
An open ended question was posed at the end of the questionnaire to elicit students response
on what are the changes that teachers need have in order to improve in their teaching. A few
interesting areas surfaced from the feedback received, among others, the trainees see the
overwhelming need of being exposed to knowledge on how to integrate technology and ICT in the
classroom. The trainees are extremely aware that teachers need to be techno-savvy and up-to-date
with the latest knowledge on ICT usage in the classroom. This is in fact very much in line with the
global concerns of teaching in the 21st
century, where ICT in classroom is said to be one of the
predominant features which needs to be looked into seriously. (William, 2009)
Apart from technology, the trainees also had deep concerns over the issue of teacher
personality, which includes teacher-student interaction, teacher and staff relationship, teacher
attitude and motivation and the need for teachers to improve on their communication with others or
what is now known as the soft skills. Somehow this people and personality related issues are seen
as very crucial for teachers to have and this I think, is very much related to the trainees experience
in the schools. Having gone to schools, these trainees are aware of the importance of what is also
known as EQ (emotional quotient) in order to survive in the school environment. It is indeed very
comforting to know that the trainees are aware of the importance of the affective factor in teaching.
It is imperative for teachers to know that the success or failure of a class is , at most times, very
much affected by the affective factors in teachers. This is to ensure that the “humane” factor is

11. effectively transmitted by teachers to students. Hence, teachers should take time to focus on this
matter and not only that of content area.
Conclusion
The overall findings of this study suggest interesting insights on trainee teachers’ needs and
challenges in the new millennium. In terms of readiness, trainees are in the opinion that they are
generally ready for their practicum teaching or placement in schools. However, they have their
share of concerns as to what are the subjects or courses which they need more exposure to in order
to improve in their teaching. Among the courses which they felt necessary include classroom
management courses and also pedagogy based courses, which would provide them with hands-on
knowledge on how to go about maximising their teaching in the classrooms.
Apart from that, they were also quite consistent in their views as to what are the courses
which should be removed from the programme. Basically, they saw very little need for theoretical,
historical and philosophical based subjects such as Foundation of Education, Education in
Malaysia, CITU , as these subjects are not useful and practical for them in their teaching. They find
that other practical subjects such as educational psychology, all the methods courses, classroom
management as being very crucial for them and they hope to see more practical and classroom-
useful courses to be included into the four year B.Ed degree programme. It is therefore timely to
look at necessary measures that should be taken to ensure that the teacher training programme
provided for the students is effective and practical for their future classroom use:
...Teachers and teacher educators must make a fundamental change in their paradigm
for teaching and learning. We must recognize that the current education system has been
set up to prepare students perfectly for a world that no longer exists. Massive, re-
thinking of training for educators is essential if schools are to be made relevant to the
modern needs of all students... (Jukes, McCain and Crockett, 2010)
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