Prospective Teachers’ Perceptions of their Pre-Service Education

In Türkiye, teacher education is provided through two main pathways. One of these is the four-year bachelor's programs offered by the education departments of universities, where students who complete these programs are defined as pre-service teachers. Another area of teacher education involves students who have completed four-year undergraduate programs (in biology, mathematics, theology, literature, physics, etc.) outside the education faculties and subsequently complete the Pedagogical Formation Education Certificate Program (PFECP) to become teacher candidates. The aim of this study is to delineate the perception levels of students in education faculties and PFECP regarding their undergraduate education. The study includes final-year students from the education faculties in science education, social studies education, and preschool education, as well as students enrolled in PFECP. The study utilized the Teacher Perceptions Scale for Adequacy of Pre-Service Education (TPSAPE) as its data collection instrument. The research results indicate that there is no substantial difference between the perception levels of pre-service education between PFECP students and education faculty students. All prospective teachers felt well-prepared for the teaching profession. In fact, the perception levels of PFECP students are higher than those of science and social studies teacher candidates. These interesting findings are discussed from different perspectives.