The Situation of Teacher Training for Bachelor of Education at Teacher Education Colleges: A Case Study of Phnom Penh Teacher Education College and Battambang Teacher Education College

Abstract

More recently, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport has reformed teacher training by transforming four teacher training centers into two teacher education colleges and launching a Bachelor of Education training program (the 12 + 4 formula) at Phnom Penh Teacher Education College and Battambang Teacher Education College. However, this reform may face several challenges. The research aims to study:

1. The current situation of both Teacher Education Colleges (TECs) in the implementation of teacher training for the Bachelor of Education program.

2. The challenges faced by both Teacher Education Colleges in the implementation of teacher training for the Bachelor of Education program.

The study sample was selected from Phnom Penh Teacher Education College and Battambang Teacher Education College, with a total of 308 participants. The sample included 8 government officials from the teacher education colleges, 6 heads or deputies of offices, 48 heads or deputies of departments/teacher educators, and 246 student teachers. Participants were recruited using the Yamane formula with a 95% confidence level.

There were two types of research tools: closed and open-ended questionnaires (for heads/deputies of departments, teacher educators, and student teachers) and interviews (for government officials from teacher education colleges and heads/deputies of offices). The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, and variance, calculated with the SPSS program, and the major challenges were grouped by sample types.

The main results are as follows:

1. The current status of the two teacher education colleges: Among the top seven factors considered very good by participants was the quality of student teachers. Meanwhile, management and administration, teaching and learning, curriculum, and the quality of teacher educators were rated as good. However, learning resources and physical infrastructure were deemed insufficient. The highest-rated item, with a mean of 4.51, was that student teachers were selected through a competitive examination and rigorous selection process. The lowest-rated item, with a mean of 2.62, was the dormitory and the materials available in the dormitory.

2. Challenges faced by the two teacher education colleges: The challenges identified include issues with the curriculum framework, curriculum content, quantity and qualification of teacher educators, legal standards, recruiting new teacher educators for the colleges, lack of documents in the library, an overload of research work for student teachers, insufficient national language documents, limited English language ability among some student teachers and teacher educators, and inadequate learning resources and physical infrastructure.

To improve the quality and effectiveness of teacher training for the Bachelor of Education program, the Ministry of Education, along with development partners and stakeholders, must address the negative aspects mentioned above.