A COMPARISON OF TEACHER TRAINING SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TURKEY

Abstract

Education is one of the most important elements for the development of a country and teachers are one of the basic building blocks of the education system. Although the United States and Turkey have different education systems, the training of teachers and improving the quality of education is an important issue in both countries. Especially since the 1990s, education quality, and school reform studies have focused on teachers and curriculum. When other components (genetic characteristics, management, technology, family, environment, etc.) are taken into consideration in addition to the individual characteristics of students, the teacher is dominant in most of the success. Research shows that student success depends 50 percent on genetic equipment and 30 percent on teacher quality. It is necessary to invest in this area for success in education. In this study, teacher training systems in the United States of America (USA) and Turkey are analyzed and discussed comparatively in terms of implementation. This study aims to reveal similarities and differences and to develop applicable suggestions by comparing the university entrance conditions, education processes, school experiences, teaching practices, and their evaluation systems within the scope of the teacher training program.

The study is descriptive in the survey model. In this study, the horizontal approach, one of the comparative methods, was used. Based on the comparison, a significant difference was observed between the teacher training system in Turkey and the states in the USA in terms of program admission, education duration, and evaluation in terms of all variables obtained. In light of this information, recommendations were made for the teacher education system in Turkey.