Microsoft Word jep-vol. 7 No. 14 2016

 
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
 
Vol.7, No.14, 2016 
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Table 2. Student teachers perception about the naming of their 
degree program and the curriculum content 
4.2 Students’ Teachers Teaching Professional Plan 
Table 3 shows the teaching plans for the undergraduate student teachers for the subject combination available at 
the Faculty of Science (SUA). It can be seen from Table 3 that about 47% of the student teachers planned and 
45% did not plan to be secondary school teachers. These results suggest that the current attitude of the society 
affects students’ teachers not to be interested in the teaching profession. It should be noted that any profession is 
highly dependent not only on its contribution for societal change and development but also to the income it 
generates to the individual.
In recent years, Tanzanians have been arguing that being a teacher creates challenges on the 
individuals some of which are low salary payment, working in remote areas of the country where there is lack of 
infrastructures and technological advancements and drop up of social respect in the communities. But, in general 
the results for the student teachers who planned to be teachers show that the undergraduate students’ teachers at 
SUA love their profession while attending teaching practice. 
Table 3. Student teachers previous plan to be teachers in specific subject 

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Journal of Education and Practice
www.iiste.org
 
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
 
Vol.7, No.14, 2016 
117 
Agric, agriculture; Bios, biology; Info, informatics; Chem, chemistry; Geo, geography; Maths, 
mathematics; and Phys, physics 
4.3 The Weight and Challenges of Teaching Practice 
The teaching practice is an integral part of the curriculum of BSc with education degree program in Tanzania 
where students’ teachers are expected to spend about eight (8) weeks carryout in difference secondary schools in 
the country. Figure 1 shows the perception of students’ teachers on the weight given to teaching practice. The 
results show that the student teachers concur with the present of TP in the curriculum and 50% of the 
respondents suggested that the credit hours given for TP is sufficient while 18% argued that TP is given more 
weight than needed. On the other hand, 32% the students’ teachers find that the TP has not been given sufficient 
credit hours to allow adequate coverage of teaching practical skills and appropriate attention. In conclusion, the 
results indicate that teaching practice in BSc with education degree program at SUA is emphasized and given 
sufficient weight in the curriculum as noted by the undergraduate student teachers. 
Teaching practice program has a lot of challenges that create a negative impact on the time 
management of the program and on the academic knowledge of the student teachers. Table 4 shows some 
problems as perceived by the student teachers during their previous teaching practice. As can be seen from the 
Table 4, 30% of the respondents pointed out that lack of financial and materials support together with mismatch 
of TP with the secondary schools calendar were the major problem during teaching practice. The problem of 
negative attitude of fellow in-service teacher in the local schools and even secondary school students was also 
seen as challenge to the student teachers. The other challenges that the respondents report were inadequate 
supervision (8%) and insufficient time for TP (6%).
Figure 1. Perception of students’ teachers on the weight given to teaching practice 
Table 4. The problems of teaching practice for students’ teachers at the Faculty of Science (SUA) 
Moreover, student’s teachers are relatively less interested to learn more than passing examinations, 
instructors over load the learners at the end of the semester, cover one chapter in a single period and others fail to 
cover relevant chapters of the course. Most examinations are always prepared in a way that encourage the 
student teacher to write memorized lecture notes and handouts than critical thinking on the concept. Instructors 
are overloaded and some of them are forced to handle courses in which they are not specialized. There is a large 
number of student teachers with a shortage of relevant reference materials. Mostly the withdrawal and complete 
dismissals are female students. The study indicates that there is a problem of late beginning of teaching practice 
and TP supervisors are unable to manage the large number of student teachers due to lack of coordination and 
follow up of problems. Teaching practice program gives no attention to satisfy the needs and interest of the 
student teachers and supervisors. 

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Journal of Education and Practice
www.iiste.org
 
ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online)
 
Vol.7, No.14, 2016 
118