Evaluation of Faculty-School Partnership Model: Pre-service Science Teachers’ Views

Field experience has been regarded as the most favorably viewed component of initialteacher education in contributing to pre-service teachers’ professional learning. The conceptof university–school partnerships is promoted as a holistic approach where mutualprofessional learning benefits are anticipated and realized—where the knowledge andexpertise of educators in schools and universities are valued, respected and utilized. While thepartnerships may serve many aims, the underlying belief in their value often stems from thegenerally held assumption that such partnerships provide opportunities for the relationshipsbetween theory and practice to be more effectively enhanced. Varying periods of placement inschool and classroom settings encourage pre-service teachers to engage in a developmentalprocess of observing and experimenting with teaching practice, and learning about the skills,knowledge, philosophies and attitudes of the professional teacher. Therefore, the quality ofpre-service teachers’ learning experiences in the field is a major concern in initial teachereducation.Improving science teacher education has been an integral part of reform movements inthe National Education in Turkey during the last decade. As a result of these efforts, HigherEducation Council and Ministry of National Education restructured science education