Effectiveness of Practice Teaching in Health and Physical Education

Abstract

Practice teaching is a compulsory program for academic study of Faculty of Education, designed to give student teachers the practical skills and confidence they need for real classrooms. However, there is a growing concern that this training is turning into a mere formality instead of a meaningful learning experience. This descriptive study evaluated the effectiveness of the practice teaching program in the health and physical education, focusing on the performance of student teachers and the real-world challenges they face. Data were collected through structured interviews with 70 student teachers and 15 cooperating school teachers from the convenience or accidental sampling, and the results were analyzed using simple percentages. The findings show that the overall effectiveness of the teaching practice is highly satisfactory. Most student teachers demonstrated a strong sense of professional responsibility, kept regular attendance, and showed good teaching capabilities. This success was backed up by positive feedback from both the school students and their supervising teachers. However, the study also revealed major challenges, such as a serious lack of supervisor visits from the home colleges, overcrowded classrooms, loud noise, and local language barriers. The study concludes that while colleges must improve their supervisor feedback and schools need to manage classroom environments better, student teachers can still succeed by being well-prepared and resourceful.