Supervisory Performance of Cooperative Teachers in Improving the Professional Preparation of Student Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of effectiveness of the supervisory performance of cooperative teachers in improving the professional preparation of student teachers in the specialization of early childhood education.The participants were 155 student teachers enrolled in the education field-training program at Yarmouk University in Jordan. To achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was developed, after insuring its validity and reliability. The findings showed that, according to the means and standard deviations of the questionnaire items, cooperative teachers did not fulfill their supervisory roles in improving the professional preparation of student teachers during the education field-training. The findings also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the effectiveness of the supervisory performance of cooperative teachers due to gender, academic qualification and teaching experience. This indicates that these variables do not affect the cooperative teachers' supervisory role in improving student teachers' preparation. This study contributes to a better comprehension of the supervisory performance of cooperative teachers in improving the professional preparation of student teachers. It is suggested that the teacher education program at Yarmouk University should pay attention to improve student teachers' preparation during the education field-training phase.