Döğer Gündüz, D. (2022). Music Teacher Candidates’ Perspectives on the Teaching Practice Course in Pedagogical Formation Education. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 10(1). 269-287. Received : 17.10.2022 Revised version received : 08.12.2022 Accepted : 12.12.2022 MUSIC TEACHER CANDIDATES' PERSPECTIVES ON THE TEACHING PRACTICE COURSE IN PEDAGOGICAL FORMATION EDUCATION Research article Didem Döğer Gündüz (0000- 0001-5230-3810). Dicle University, Turkey didemdoger@hotmail.com Biodata: Didem Döğer Gündüz is working as a Asst. Prof. at the at the Department of Fine Arts Education at Dicle University. Copyright © 2014 by International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET). ISSN: 2148-225X. Material published and so copyrighted may not be published elsewhere without written permission of IOJET. Döğer Gündüz 270 MUSIC TEACHER CANDIDATES' PERSPECTIVES ON THE TEACHING PRACTICE COURSE IN PEDAGOGICAL FORMATION EDUCATION Didem Döğer Gündüz didemdoger@hotmail.com Abstract In this study, it was aimed to determine the opinions of music teacher candidates attending the pedagogical formation program regarding the teaching practice course in Turkey. The study group of the research consists of 16 music teacher candidates attending formation education certificate program in Dicle University Ziya Gökalp Education Faculty in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study conducted qualitatively. Research data were collected using semi-structured interview technique. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research; it has been seen that the teacher candidates’ perspectives about the supervisor, the mentor, the school and the school administration are generally positive. Teacher candidates stated that the teaching practice course contributed to their future professional life and they had the most teaching experience, also this course helped to eliminate the existing deficiencies and they gained experience in the approach to students. Some teacher candidates expressed problems such as the exhaustion of the course being two semesters, the material and spiritual difficulties for teacher candidates coming from other cities, and the absence of the right to absenteeism. Keywords: teacher training, pedagogical formation education, teaching practice, music teacher candidate 1. Introduction Education faculties are programs that aim to train teachers in Turkey. These programs have undergone various changes and have been rearranged many times over the years. From past to present, institutions that train teachers in Turkey can be listed as primary teacher schools, village institutes, higher teacher schools, three-year education institutes, two-year education institutes and education faculties (Erdem, 2015). The task of training teachers was given only to education faculties with a regulation made in 1982. However, pedagogical formation certificate programs have been organized for some faculties (science, literature, engineering, agriculture, health, etc.) and teacher training has been made more comprehensive and widespread (Guven, 2015). With the transformation of education colleges into education faculties and the connection of classroom teaching departments to education faculties, classroom teaching departments could not graduate for a few years in 1992. Thereupon, upon the request of the Ministry of National Education, the pedagogical formation certificate program was started to be implemented to fill the shortage of classroom teachers (YÖK, 2007). It is possible to become a teacher by taking vocational courses with pedagogical formation education certificate programs that enable students who have not graduated from education faculties and who are studying in different faculties or who graduated from them to become teachers. mailto:didemdoger@hotmail.com International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 271 1.1. Pedagogical Formation Education Pedagogical formation education program is a training program given in the fields determined by the Ministry of National Education and within the faculties of education. Students or graduates of 255 different undergraduate programs can apply to pedagogical formation education certificate programs within the scope of the decision of the Board of Education and Discipline, dated 20 February 2014 and numbered 9, on teaching fields, assignment and teaching, which constitutes the basis for the determination of the procedures and principles regarding the pedagogical formation education certificate program by the Higher Education Council. There are 104 different fields that are the basis for the appointment of candidates (MEB, 2014). The Ministry of National Education’s statement stated that the pedagogical formation would be abolished and the postgraduate teaching profession specialization program would be opened instead in 2018 (MEB, 2018). After this announcement, most universities did not open pedagogical formation certificate programs with the thought that new regulations would made. The pedagogical formation certificate programs, interrupted for three years, started to be implemented again with the determination and publication of the framework procedures and principles regarding the pedagogical formation education certificate program at the Higher Education General Assembly meeting dated 27.09.2021 by YÖK (YÖK, 2021). The courses taught in the current arrangement of the pedagogical formation education program are shown in the table below. Table 1.Courses in the pedagogical formation education certificate program I. Semester courses Theory Practice Credit ECTS Introduction to Education 3 0 3 6 Teaching Principles and Methods 3 0 3 6 Classroom Management 2 0 2 4 Special teaching methods 3 0 3 6 Teaching Practice I 1 6 4 8 Semester total 12 6 15 30 II. Semester courses Measurement and Evaluation in Education 3 0 3 6 Education psychology 3 0 3 6 Guidance and Special Education 3 0 3 6 Instructional Technologies 2 0 2 4 Teaching Practice II 1 6 4 8 Semester total 12 6 15 30 The overall total 24 12 30 60 Besides knowledge of their subject, prospective teachers have to acquire professional skills. Their professional training includes theoretical studies (including psychology and the theory of teaching) and practical training in schools, which is likely to be the observation of teaching and sessions with direct responsibility for classroom teaching activity (Eurydice, 2015). As seen in the table 1, the content of all courses in the certificate program, except for the teaching practice, is only theoretical. Döğer Gündüz 272 1.2. Teaching Practice Course The teaching practice course, which is also the subject of the research, is a course in which all the theoretical knowledge learned is put into practice and ensures that the outputs of the pedagogical formation education certificate program are brought to life. Teaching practice is defined as “a course which provides teaching skills in the classroom to teacher candidates at the teaching level in the field where they will be teachers and enables them to teach a particular lesson or lessons in a planned way, and practice activities are discussed and evaluated (MEB Legislation, 1998/2493). Teaching practice allows teacher candidates to realize their educational needs, evaluate teaching principles and methods, reach their own decisions and face the real work environment. Therefore, in the implementation process, the groundwork is created for teacher candidates to be teachers who think, reflect and improve themselves by contributing to their professional development (Yalın Uçar, 2012). Teaching practice is a course conducted in cooperation with education faculties and schools. The schools where the first step in the profession and which will contribute to professional development, while universities constitute the theoretical dimension of the course. For this reason, it is important to act together and effective communication with the supervisor, the mentor, and the schools in the teaching practice courses. In the literature, we encounter studies in which the teaching practice course and the elements such as the mentor, supervisor, school, and students in this process are researched in different programs in Turkey and show its importance. Güngör (2021) concluded that biology undergraduate teacher candidates had positive opinions about the practice course and the mentor, while they expressed negative opinions about the students, and that the positive and negative opinions about the practice school and biology course were equal in his study. In the study, the suggestions of the teacher candidates for the process were directed to the mentor. In the research conducted by Yakar Uzun et al. (2021), it was understood that primary school teacher candidates and science teacher candidates could not fully fulfill their duties and responsibilities towards each other in the teaching practice course. The research also included the participants' solution suggestions for the problems experienced. Bay et al. (2019) stated that the teaching practice course has significant contributions to teacher candidates, but the quality and quantity of this course should improved to reach a sufficient level in terms of professional development. In the study conducted by Sünkür Çakmak (2019); teacher candidates expressed a positive opinion about the practice school and its teacher, as well as the supervisor and school administration, stated that they gained experience in communicating with the student, classroom management and the class, they also made suggestions that the implementation should take longer and there should be more teaching opportunities. In the study by Ballı et al. (2018) that examined the opinions about the teaching practice II course; it stated that teacher candidates have both positive observations and experiences regarding the teaching staff, mentor, their practices, students, administration, teachers other than the mentor, and the formation education process, and they have some problems in these matters. It was stated that in addition to the positive observations and experiences, the difficulties contributed the emotion, thought and practice related to teaching. Dursun and Kiraz (2017) stated in their study that teacher candidates have problems during the teaching practice process and that they usually find temporary solutions for the solution of the problems experienced, and determined that teacher candidates do not have sufficient knowledge about the practice and therefore their expectations from this application are low. The teacher candidates expected that the teaching staff and the mentor would be more involved in the participants and the course, the lesson plans would be more planned and International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 273 functional, and the communication of the supervisors and the mentors at the school would be better. Many similar studies conducted in different programs for the teaching practice course appear in the literature (Altıntaş & Görgen, 2014; Aslan & Sağlam, 2018; Aydın & Değirmenci, 2017; Cengiz, 2021; Karabulut, 2022; Kılınç et al., 2018; Tanşu & Bektaş, 2020; Tonga & Erden, 2021; Yadigaroğlu, 2021). When the studies in the field of music on teacher training programs are examined, these studies cover various domains, such as the evaluation of the teacher candidates' competencies during the teaching practice course process (Bulut, 2012; Türkmen, 2018), the examination of the history of music teacher training, teaching programs or teacher education certificate programs and curricula, and the evaluations of the course (Gudek, 2016; Haning, 2021; Kalyoncu & Sazak, 2006; Kalyoncu, 2005, Korthagen et al., 2006), the examination of the attitudes and opinions of music teacher candidates studying at education faculties towards the teaching practice course (Dündar, 2003; Otacıoğlu, 2010; Varış, 2011). Although the institutions aiming to train music teachers in Turkey are music education faculties, students who graduate from state conservatories and faculty of fine arts can also become music teachers by applying to pedagogical formation education programs. However, students graduating from these faculties study only for field courses during their four-year undergraduate education cannot have experience in the teaching profession. In this direction, the aim of the research is to examine the opinions and thoughts of music teacher candidates applying to formation education programs in detail, to determine the deficiencies or problems, if any, and make suggestions. From this point, the problem of this research is to reveal the thoughts, experiences and impressions of music graduate teacher candidates who will step into the teaching profession for the first time. The problem statement of the research is determined as "What are the opinions of music teacher candidates attending the pedagogical formation program regarding the teaching practice course?” 2. Method 2.1. Model of the Research: A qualitative research method was used in this study, which was carried out to determine the opinions of music teacher candidates about the teaching practice course in pedagogical formation program. In the research that carried out using the illustrative case study pattern, the data were collected by semi-structured interview technique. Case studies are used to understand and see the details that create a case, to make possible explanations for a case, or to evaluate a case (Gall et al., 1996). Illustrative Case Studies are descriptive; they utilize one or two instances to show what a situation is like. This helps interpret other data, especially when there is reason to believe that readers know too little about a program (Davey, 1990). Ethics committee approval was obtained for the research from Dicle University with the decision numbered 14679147-663.05-263044 on 05.04.2022. 2.2 Study Group The study group of the research consists of 16 music teacher candidates attending the formation education certificate program in Dicle University Ziya Gökalp Education Faculty in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the determination of the study group, the criterion sampling method, which is one of the purposive sampling methods, was used. In the criterion sampling method, participants are formed from people, events, objects or situations with certain qualities (Büyüköztürk et al., 2010). Demographic information of the study group is presented below in table 2. Döğer Gündüz 274 Table 2. Personal information of students Groups N % Gender Female 6 38,00 Male 10 63,00 Age 23 3 18,75 24 6 37,50 25 2 12,50 27 3 18,75 31 1 6,25 34 1 6,25 University İnönü University 5 31,25 Atatürk University 1 6,25 Ardahan University 1 6,25 Kafkas University 4 25,00 Ege University 2 12,50 Ordu University 1 6,25 Sakarya University 1 6,25 Istanbul Technical University 1 6,25 Faculty / College Faculty of Fine Arts 6 38,00 Turkish Music State Conservatory 9 56,00 Faculty of Music and Performing Arts 1 6,00 Department Musicology 3 18,75 Music Sciences 2 12,50 Piano 2 12,50 Turkish Music and Basic Sciences 2 6,25 Turkish Music 1 12,50 Basic Sciences 1 6,25 Turkish Folk Dances 4 25,00 Voice Training 1 6,25 Total 16 100,0 Table 2 illustrates that 10 of the participant music teacher candidates are male while 6 are female. The age of the music teacher candidates ranged from 23 to 34. As far as universities International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 275 are concerned, 5 of the teacher candidates are from İnönü University, 4 of them from Kafkas University and 2 of them from Ege University and other teacher candidates graduated from Atatürk University, Ardahan University, Ordu University, Sakarya University and Istanbul Technical University. 9 of the teacher candidates are graduates from Turkish Music State Conservatory, 6 of them are from the Faculty of Fine Arts and 1 of them are from the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts. 4 of teacher candidates graduated from the Department of Turkish Folk Dances, 3 of them graduated from the Department of Musicology, 2 of them graduated from the Department of Music Sciences, 2 of them graduated from the Department of Piano, 2 of them graduated from the Department of Turkish Music and Basic Sciences, 1 of them graduated from the Department of Turkish Music, 1 of them graduated from the Department of Basic Sciences and 1 of them graduated from the Department of Voice Training. 2.3. Data Collection The research's data was obtained from the interviews held at the end of the teaching practice experience with teacher candidates who participated in the formation education certificate program during the 2021-2022 academic year. Interviews were conducted one on one. The interviews lasted an average of 10-15 minutes and were recorded via a smart phone. The interviews were carried out with a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. To ensure the reliability and validity of the interview form; (1) the form used in the research was examined by three experienced supervisors, (2) their opinions were taken and necessary corrections were made in line with their suggestions. The answers given by the participants to the questions were presented with one-to-one quotations, and the interpretations were made later to ensure the internal reliability of the research (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013). The interview form created by used in the research includes the following questions. 1. What are your views on teaching practice I and II courses in pedagogical formation education? a)What are your views about the supervisor? b)What are your views about the mentor? c)What are your views about school administration? d)What are your views about the practice school? 2.What did teaching practice I and II courses in pedagogical formation education bring to your future professional life? 3.What are the problems you experience or encounter in teaching practice I and II courses in pedagogical formation education? 4.What are your suggestions for conducting teaching practice I and II courses in pedagogical formation education? 2.4. Data Analysis The content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data obtained in the research. The basic process in content analysis is to gather similar data within the framework of certain concepts and themes and to interpret them in a way that the reader can understand (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2013). Firstly, the data that was obtained in this direction were transferred to the computer environment, then the data were coded and themes and sub-themes were created for each question. The support of three experts was sought for the reliability of the analysis. The answers of a randomly selected sample participant were also coded by another expert, and the compatibility between the codes (Reliability=consensus/consensus+disagreement X 100) was tested (Miles & Huberman, 1994). As a result of the analysis, the coefficient of agreement Döğer Gündüz 276 between the two encoders was calculated as .80. Finally, the data obtained are presented in order. 4. Findings The opinions and suggestions of the music students who receive pedagogical formation education about the course process are mentioned in this section. Firstly, the results were presented in tables, and then some notable student opinions were presented in one-to-one citation. Table 3. Opinions about the supervisor Sub Themes Codes Students giving feedback f Guidance Guidance in all matters S2, S4, S9 3 Exhibiting exemplary behavior S2, S10 2 Gaining professional experience and skills S3, S5, S11 3 Communication Comfortable and effective S7, S12 2 Interested S1, S12, S13, S14 4 Understanding and tolerant S9, S2, S8, S9 4 Enjoyable and smiling S11, S5 2 Kind and sincere S6, S2, S10 3 Adaptation Helping with how to behave at school S3, S11 2 Joining the classes with us S13, S4 2 Helping to create a natural environment S15 1 Supporting practical lessons with theoretical knowledge S16 1 Table 3 shows that the opinions of the music teacher candidates about the supervisor are grouped under three sub-themes as guidance, communication and adaptation, and they mostly have positive opinions on communication. Considering the opinions of music teacher candidates about guidance; it has been stated that the supervisor exhibits exemplary behaviors in terms of profession, guidance, and professional experience and experimentation. Some music teacher candidates’ opinions on this sub-theme are as follows: S9: “He/she supports and guides in every way”, S10: “He/she showed exemplary behavior in the professional sense. It had a great impact on our professional experience”, I am very happy for his/her guidance” S11: “He/she has enabled us to gain professional experience”. The opinions of music teacher candidates about communication stated that, the supervisor generally understood, tolerant, caring, kind and sincere. As a result, it was seen that there were no communication problems with the supervisor. Some music teacher candidates’ opinions on this sub-theme are as follows: S9: “He/she is very understanding and tolerant. We are in constant communication”, S10: “He/she was always kind”, S12: “He/she listened to us in every matter and always very involved”, S2: “We had no problems with communication. We could easily reach him/her whenever we wanted”. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 277 Finally, when the music teacher candidates’ opinions about the adaptation sub-theme were examined: they stated that the supervisor is very practical in adapting process to the teaching profession, especially in terms of participating in the lessons and informing about the behaviors in the school. Some music teacher candidates’ opinions on this sub-theme are as follows: S5:“He/she helped us a lot in adjusting to practice school. He/she gave information about where and how we would act”, S12: “The application helped us to adapt by introducing us to our school and teacher”, S11:“He/she shared her knowledge of school entrances and exits, how we should behave at school, how we should communicate with students, and enabled us to gain experience”. Table 4. Opinions about the mentor Sub Themes Codes Students giving feedback F Communication Understanding S9, S12, S16 3 Tolerant S6 1 Disciplined S2, S10, S16 3 Interested S13 1 The learning-teaching environment Assisting in the method-techniques to be applied according to the subject of the course S2, S12 2 Assisting in lesson planning S8, S15 2 Providing information about children's developmental status and age S2 1 Helping to maintain discipline in the classroom S7, S10, S12 3 Informative and supportive for lectures and an effective lesson S2, S9, S3, S12, S15, S16 6 Being supportive in controlling excitement S1 1 Guidance Gaining professional experience and skills S7, S4 2 Being a guide S10, S16 2 Assisting students in approach and communication S6, S1,S12 3 Being an example with his attitude and behavior S6, S14 2 Perspective to the profession Getting rid of prejudices S11 1 Affecting the attitude towards teaching positively S13, S3 2 Increasing admiration and commitment to teaching S11, S12, S8 3 The music teacher candidates’ opinions about the mentor were gathered under the sub- themes of communication, learning-teaching environment, guidance and perspective to the profession. It is seen that teacher candidates generally mention the contribution of the mentor in the learning-teaching process. Some music teacher candidates’ opinions on communication and the learning-teaching environment sub-themes are as follows: S2:“He/she gave information about the ages and developmental status of the children. A disciplined teacher Döğer Gündüz 278 who supports many subjects such as how to start and how to teach lessons, what strategies to use”, S10: “One of the biggest problems faced by new teachers when they enter the classroom is maintaining order in the classroom. It is very important to ensure order and discipline in the classroom in order to obtain the desired efficiency from the teaching- learning process. We learned a lot about this subject from our mentor”. Music teacher candidates' opinions on the sub-theme of guidance mostly focus on communication with students. In this sub-theme some teacher’s opinions are as follows; S12: “Teachers and students are influenced by each other in the classroom. Our mentor gave us a lot about ourselves and the students with his understanding attitude”, S16: “He/she has been guiding us as a good teacher since day one. He/she gives directions in our lectures and is a very understanding teacher”, S7: Our mentor helped us internalize the teaching profession with his/her teaching knowledge and teaching experience. We learned how to keep the classroom under control. It contributed to the advancement of our teacher identity in this process”. The music teacher candidates’ opinions about the sub-theme of perspective on the profession are as follows: S11: “When I was teaching, my biggest fear was how I would teach the lesson and I had prejudices about the profession, such as did I draw a negative profile in front of the student. Thanks to the support of the mentor, I got rid of these fears. My commitment to the teaching profession has increased”. Also S12 stated that: He/she gained knowledge on many subjects such as attitudes and behaviors in the lesson, communication, teaching strategies used in lecture, scope knowledge, and guidance” Table 5.Opinions about school administration Sub Themes Codes Students giving feedback F Attitude and behavior Support in all matters S1,S3,S5, S7 4 Inconsiderate and disinterested S4 1 Fair and sincere S8, S7, S11 3 Understanding and helpful S7, S13, S14, S5, S10 5 Acting like a schoolteacher S3, S11, S15 2 School operation and rules Having information sharing S2, S6, S12 3 Planned execution of activities S9, S16 2 Providing professional guidance S2,S15, S16 1 Music teachers candidates' opinions about school administration consist of two sub- themes: positive attitudes and behaviors and school operation and rules. Most of the teacher candidates stated that the school administration is understanding and helpful and they support them in every way. Some music teacher candidates’ opinions about school administration attitudes and behaviors are as follow: S3: “The behavior of the school administration towards us was quite good from the beginning to the end of the term. Even though we were trainees, they acted like the school's teacher”. S7: “They have been supportive in every subject. They always acted fairly, honestly and sincerely”. S8: “We were able to take advantage of all the facilities of the school. They have always stood by us without marginalizing or discriminating”. However one student stated that; “school administration was very inconsiderate and disinterested. Making the announcements was a bit lacking (S4)”. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 279 In addition, it was observed that music teacher candidates were satisfied with the school operation and rules. S12 stated, “Information was given on many subjects such as school rules, entrance and exit, addressing teachers and students”. One teacher candidate remarked, “school administration helped us a lot with their professional guidance. The activities at the school were carried out in a planned manner (S16)”. Another one stated: “school administration have been very effective in our professional development by sharing their knowledge about increasing productivity, creating team spirit, integrating with the environment and developing the corporate culture”. Table 6.Opinions about the practice school Sub Themes Codes Students giving feedback f Positive A good and qualified school S1, S2, S3, S14 4 Student quality is good S2, S3, S12 3 Beautiful S3, S7, S8 3 Being a school where professional music education is given S4, S6, S9, S11, S13 5 Music events S1, S3, S4, S15 4 Sufficient tools and equipment S5, S13, S16 3 Negative Being out of province S7, S10, S12 3 Neglected S2 1 Music teacher candidates’ opinions about the practice school were examined in two sub- themes as positive and negative. The fact that it is a school that provides professional music education and music activities are held frequently are the most positive opinions about the practice school. One teacher said, “I think it is the right school because the structure of the school appeals to us, that is, it is a high school where music education is given. The music activities held were also very successful (S4)”, another one stated, “having a music school made our job easier. Since the readiness level of the students was sufficient, we did not have any problems in transferring information (S13)” and S6 stated, “the practice school has been a good place of experience and experimentation for us. I felt as if I was assigned and teaching at my own school with my students”. Along with positive opinions, there were also negative opinions about the practice school. One teacher said “The practice school was very nice. However, since I come from outside of the province, I get tired both financially and morally and I have a hard time (S7)”, and another one stated, "the practice school was a very good school, the students were respectful and disciplined. However, I think that the school needs good maintenance (S2)”. Table 7. Contribution of teaching practice (I- II) course to future teaching life Döğer Gündüz 280 Sub Themes Codes Students giving feedback f Classroom management Approach to students S1, S3, S6 3 Gaining experience in lectures S1, S8, S9, S13 4 Gaining knowledge and equipment S9, S15 2 Utilizing teaching methods and techniques S3 1 Fixing the deficiencies in the practice S3, S11, S12, S16 4 Perspective to the profession Internalizing the profession S2 1 Being patient S6, S12 2 Gaining a teacher profile S4, S5 2 Gaining positive attitude and behavior S7, S10 2 Communication Recognizing the lack of communication with students S12, S14 2 The teaching practice course’s contribution to the future teaching life of teacher candidates was evaluated in three sub-themes: classroom management, perspective to the profession and communication with students. Some of the opinions stating the contribution of the teaching practice course to classroom management are as follows: S1: “I gained experience in many subjects such as maintaining discipline in the classroom, approaching students, and lecturing”. S11 stated, “I had some experience as I was a educator at other institutions before, but it was very helpful in eliminating my deficiencies in practice” and another one said “My knowledge and equipment about the teaching profession has increased thanks to this course. I learned how to teach and how to better focus the class on the subject while teaching (S9)”. Most music teacher candidates stated that teaching practice improved their perspective on the profession. One teacher remarked, “I learned that I need to be more careful in my attitudes and behaviors towards students. I understood the importance of being a more patient person in my teaching life” (S6). The opinion of one music teacher candidate about the sub-theme of communication is as follow: “I realized how far I was from the teacher profile, when I started lecturing. Thanks to the teaching practice course, I made up for my deficiencies and gained experience in using teaching methods/techniques and how I should approach students and how I should communicate with them (S3)”. In addition to all these views, some teacher candidates also expressed the problems they encountered during the teaching practice course. The problems expressed by some teacher candidates are as follows. “I would like the teaching practice course to be one semester rather than two semesters. It used to be like this. I think it was a more effective application. Because you can't learn teaching fully before you start your teaching career (S2)”, “I have experienced that the teacher is more effective in the course. In my opinion, a student-centered teaching style should be included more (S16)”, “The fact that the school is outside the province was also very difficult for my friends from other cities like me. In addition, the fact that the right to absenteeism was not recognized in this difficult situation made us very tired (S7)”. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 281 Table 8. Suggestions for teaching practice (I-II) course Sub themes Students giving feedback f More support needed in approach to student and lecture S1, S3, S5, S8, S13 5 The course can be one semester S2 1 It is better to determine the topics to be covered before in the course S4 1 Educational psychology support can be given to the teaching practice course S6 1 The practice school can be selected from the province where he/she lives for teacher candidates who coming to the formation training program from outside the province S10, S7 2 It is possible to be flexible about absenteeism for extraordinary situations that may occur S1, S2, S3, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S12, S15, Ö16 3 It is seen that they agree with the opinions that more support should be given to the approach in student and lecture and that it is necessary to act flexibly for absenteeism, when teacher candidates' suggestions for the teaching practice course are examined. 5. Discussion and Conclusion The opinions of the teacher candidates about the supervisor, which constitute the first question of the research, were gathered under the sub-themes of guidance, communication and adaptation and were positive. Most of the teacher candidates stated that the supervisors are concerned, understanding and tolerant, provide professional experimentation and experience, and guide in every subject. In the adapting process in the profession, they stated that the supervisor attended the classes with them and helped them with their behavior at school. In the teaching practice process, the support and contribution of the supervisor have great importance. Beck & Kosnik (2002) stated that some factors affect the quality of formation education that are variables such as psychological support from the supervisor, colleague relationship with the practice supervisor, cooperation with the practice supervisor, flexibility in the teaching content and method, feedback from the practice supervisor, and a tight but not excessive workload during the practice. Özonay & Böcük (2014) stated that practice supervisors should be experts in their fields. Primary, they have sufficient teaching profession knowledge, experience and secondary schools if possible, willing and able to spare time for teacher candidates. In the research, the opinions of the teacher candidates about the mentor consist of sub-themes such as communication, learning-teaching environment, guidance and perspective to the profession, and positive opinions gathered under these themes. Most of the teacher candidates reported that the mentor was informative and supportive of lectures and an effective lesson. Apart from this, being understanding, and disciplined, helping in approach and communication with students, and increasing admiration and commitment to teaching are other positive opinions that are mostly expressed. Martin (1994) stated that the level of relationship between teacher candidates and mentors has a significant effect on the qualification of practice activities. According to Joyce & Calhoun (2010), an experienced teacher who acts as mentor to a beginning teacher can perform the following; companionship, i.e. discussing ideas, problems, and successes; technical feedback, i.e. especially related to lesson planning and classroom observations analysis of application, i.e. integrating what happens or what works as part of the beginning teacher’s repertoire adaptation, i.e. helping the beginning teacher adapt to particular situation; and personal Döğer Gündüz 282 facilitation, i.e. helping the teacher feel good about self after trying new strategies. Many studies in the literature reveal the importance of the mentor in the practice process (Ballı et al., 2018; Cengiz, 2021; Dursun & Kiraz, 2017; Hudson, 2012; Matthew, 2019; Sünkür Çakmak, 2019; Tonga & Tantekin Erden, 2021; Varış, 2011). The teacher candidates' opinions on school administration consist of two sub-themes: attitude/behavior and school operation and rules. Many positive opinions were expressed by the teacher candidates about the school administration, such as being supportive in all matters, being understanding, helpful, fair and sincere, sharing information and providing guidance for the profession. In addition to all these positive opinions, one teacher candidate expressed that the school administration exhibited insensitive and uninterested attitudes. Kyriacoua & Kuncb (2007) stated that school administration is among the factors affecting commitment to teaching. Matthew (2019) expresses that various approaches such as orientation, mentoring, attending workshops, conferences and seminars, micro-teaching practices, and providing material support in the education process can be adopted by school administrators to enable beginner teachers to carry out effective teaching. Music teacher candidates' opinions about the practice school were examined under two sub-themes as positive and negative. In the research, the fact that the practice school is a school where professional music education is given, music activities are frequently held and being a good quality school were the positive aspects that were reported the most. Negative opinions about the practice school were stated as the fact that the school is outside the province by the students participating in the certificate program from outside the province and expressed as the neglect of the school by one of the teacher candidate. The study conducted by Sünkür Çakmak (2019) also coincides with the results of the research. There are positive and negative opinions among teacher candidates' opinions about the practice school. Most of the teacher candidates stated that the practice school is a well-disciplined, regular and good school, while teacher candidates who gave negative opinions pointed out that the school was old and insufficient in terms of equipment. Similar to the results of the study, Balli et al., (2018) stated that teacher candidates had positive and negative experiences in the practice school and they learned to fulfill the obligations required by teaching thanks to these experiences, and their awareness of teaching, their desire to be a teacher and their feelings such as self-confidence increased in their study. The music teacher candidates’ opinions about the contribution of the teaching practice course to their future professional life were gathered under the sub-themes of classroom management, perspective to the profession and communication. Most of the teacher candidates stated that they had experience in teaching, that teaching practice helped to overcome the existing deficiencies and that they gained experience in approaching students. In addition, many acquires such as being patient, noticing the lack of communication with students, teacher profile, gaining knowledge and equipment, and acquiring positive attitudes and behaviors were mentioned. In the study conducted by Aslan &Sağlam (2018), it was seen that the teaching practice course helped teacher candidates to know the teaching profession better, understood the importance of their fields better, and know their fields more closely. In many studies, it is agreed that the teaching practice course provides many experiences in terms of future professional life (Ballı et al., 2018; Bay et al., 2020; Değirmenci & Aydın, 2017; Dursun & Kiraz, 2017; Karabulut, 2022; Kılınç et al., 2018; Sünkür Çakmak, 2019; Tanşu & Baktaş, 2020; Yadigaroğlu, 2021). International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) 2022, 10(1), 269-287. 283 In the study, it was seen that most of the music teacher candidates did not have any problems during the teaching practice course. Some teacher candidates expressed the problems they encountered in the teaching practice course, such as the need to include more student-centered teaching style, the school being outside the province, the absence of the right to absenteeism and the teaching practice course being one semester instead of two semesters. In similar studies, we encounter many different problems such as negative attitudes towards the mentor (Güngör, 2021), inadequacy of the mentor (Aslan & Sağlam, 2017; Ülger, 2021), insufficient/insufficient total duration of the practice course (Erdamar & Tengilimoğlu, 2021; Jenset et al., 2018; Yadigaroğlu, 2021), inadequacy of faculty-school cooperation (Kennedy, 2008; Ülgen, 2021; Yadigaroğlu, 2021; Zeichner, 2010), disagreements between the teacher candidate and the mentor, or difficulties in classroom management (Altıntaş & Görgen, 2014; Tonga & Erden, 2021). The music teacher candidates’ suggestions for the teaching practice course were generally in the direction of the need for more support in approaching and lecturing to the students, and the need to be flexible about absenteeism in case of extraordinary situations. Apart from this, suggestions were made such as the course could be reduced to a single term, the topics to be covered in the course could be determined before, educational psychology support could be given to the teaching practice course, and the practice school could be chosen from the province where they lived for teacher candidates coming from outside the province. In the study conducted by Öztürk Akar (2018), the opinions among the suggestions for changing and improving the pedagogical formation education certificate program are the opinions of shortening the duration of the program, showing a positive attitude/approach to the student, making the teaching practice in the city where they live, and changing the absenteeism rule coincide with the results of the research. When the research results are evaluated in general, music teacher candidates who receive pedagogical formation education have generally expressed positive opinions about the supervisor, mentor, school and school administration. Also, it was determined that this course contributed a lot to the future teaching life, and it was seen that most of the music teacher candidates did not experience any problems during the teaching practice course in the study. 5.2 Ethical Text “In this article, the journal writing rules, publication principles, research and publication ethics, and journal ethical rules were followed. The responsibility belongs to XXX for any violations that may arise regarding the article. "Ethics committee approval within the scope of the research is given. It has been taken from the Dicle University ethics committee with the decision numbered 14679147-663.05-263044 on 05.04.2022. There is no conflict of interest between the authors. The contribution rate of the first author to the article is 50%, and the contribution rate of the second author to the article is 50%. Döğer Gündüz 284 References Altıntaş, S. & Görgen, İ. (2014). 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