Teaching practice according to theology students

This research focuses on the perceptions and problems experienced by final-year students of the Faculty of Theology at Dicle University during their teaching practice process. Every year, hundreds of theology students enter the profession with a teacher's identity and gain their first professional experiences during the teaching practice. In this respect, the research aims to contribute to the field by examining practicum experiences through a large sample and quantitative methods. A relational survey model, one of the quantitative approaches, was used in the research. The data were collected from 411 final-year students in the 2023-2024 academic year using a 5-point Likert-type scale with four sub-dimensions. The collected data were analyzed using statistical techniques such as t-test and ANOVA in the SPSS program. While the general findings indicate that students' personal perceptions of mentor teachers (X̄=4.11) and academicians (X̄=3.95) are positive, they also reveal that the process involves certain pedagogical and social problems. Specifically, the inadequacy of classroom observations by academicians (X̄=2.78), the failure of mentor teachers to provide sufficient teaching opportunities (X̄=3.02), and the candidates' feeling of being "redundant" due to a lack of social acceptance at the school (X̄=3.02) stand out as the weakest links in the process. Among the areas where candidates struggle the most are practical skills such as classroom management (X̄=2.74) and time management (X̄=2.63). These findings show that candidates do not receive enough of the support they need most in the field. Furthermore, it was also determined that perceptions show statistically significant differences according to variables such as gender, age, and place of birth. In conclusion, the research reveals a theory-practice disconnect in the transfer of theoretical knowledge acquired at the faculty to the field. This disconnect between theory and practice stems from the weakness of academic guidance in the field, the difficulties students face in acquiring practical skills, and the problems they experience with gaining professional acceptance in the school environment. In this regard, to improve the quality of teacher education programs, it is essential to strengthen stakeholder collaboration between the faculty and the school, and to structure the content of pedagogical formation courses to be more practice-oriented.