The Teaching and Classroom Problems Facing Student-Teachers of the College of Education at Kuwait University during Field Training

Abstract

The study aimed to identify field problems encountered by student-teachers during instruction and classroom management. A randomized sample of 90 male and female participants, specialized in social studies and mathematics, was selected from the College of Education at Kuwait University. This mixed research method employs a questionnaire that was forused on 53 key areas of teaching and classroom problems. After testing the research methods for validity and reliability, a thorough analysis was conducted to derive main averages, standard deviations, and t-test values for the challenges’ degrees of impact. Data results reflected a consensus amongst participants that the teaching profession was challenging due to the lack of quality in field training received. The first greatest challenge was classroom management problems with a slight degree of severity (M=3.04). Instructional problems were the second greatest challenge with a slight degree of severity (M=2.48). Moreover, there were statistically significant differences between male and female student-teachers in the field of teaching problems, in favor of male student teachers. There were also statistically significant differences among student teachers based on their respective area of specialization (social studies and mathematics), in favor of mathematics. The research ended with a set of recommendations for enhancing the performance of student-teachers in dealing with teaching and classroom problems during field training.