Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Desirable and Un-desirable Teacher Characteristics in Türkiye and Kazakhstan

The purpose of this research is to determine the desirable and undesirable characteristics of teachers according to the perceptions of secondary school students in Türkiye and Kazakhstan, and to make suggestions for teacher training program on how to avoid training teachers with undesirable characteristics and how to cultivate teachers with desirable characteristics in education faculties. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews. The study group was selected by purposeful sampling method, specifically maximum diversity sampling, and from secondary school 8th grade students studying in schools in Ankara and Astana, the capitals of Türkiye and Kazakhstan, during the autumn and spring semesters of the 2023-2024 academic year. The data were analyzed by descriptive and content analysis using MAXQDA software. The results revealed that the perceptions of the 8th grade students in Türkiye and Kazakhstan were largely similar. Based on the results of the research, suggestions were made regarding the issues that should be considered in teacher training programs to train teachers with desirable characteristics in education faculties by taking into account the characteristics that students value in teachers to better understand the lessons, to increase their effectiveness in the lesson and to participate willingly in the lesson.