Teaching practice experiences of home economics student-teacher; challenges and possible panacea in Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku

Abstract

The study examined the teaching practice experiences of home economics student-teacher; challenges and possible panacea in Federal College of  Education (Technical) Omoku, Rivers state,Nigeria. The study was guided by three specific objectives and research questions. Survey design was adopted  in this study and the population of the study was made up of 55 final year students of Home Economics Department both at Nigerian Certificate of  Education NCE and degree level. The study used the entire population as sample since it was relatively small and manageable. A 21-item Questionnaire  was used to gather data in this study and it was structured in four point likert scale rating. The data collected was analyzed using frequency count and  mean score rating. Findings revealed that Student teachers acquired the experience of being resourceful through improvisation and understanding the  realities of teaching during teaching practice exercise. Students teachers face numerous challenges during teaching practice such as lack of  accommodation, lack of co operation from school based teachers, lack of instructional materials and resources in schools, lack of allowances, excess work  load and lack of respect for student teachers. It was recommended that allowance should be given to student-teachers during the teaching practice  exercise so as to motivate them just like their counterpart in engineering, accounting and the likes.