A Comparative Study of Teacher Education Internship Curriculum in Iran, Australia and Singapore

Abstract

The aim of present study was a comparative study of internship curriculum in teacher education of Iran, Australia and Singapore. For this purpose, the Bereday’s approach was used. The statistical population included universities offer internship courses in Australia, Singapore and Iran using purposive sampling method. data collection method was content analysis and its validity and reliability were indicated through perspectives of internship mentors, curriculum instructors and researchers’ colleagues respectively. Then, curricula of the selected countries were extracted using tables and checklists. The research findings reveal that there are some similarities among three countries regarding full-time internships. The number of internship courses in Singapore and Iran is similar and different from Australia. There are also differences between teacher education of Singapore and Australia with Iran in cases such as amount of internship units and performance. Singapore has a postgraduate teacher education program, offers an international internship program, and extensive cooperation among schools and the National Institute of Education. According to the research findings, it is recommended that Iran’s teacher education policy makers have a review of new internship program, special attention to role of tutors, more flexibility in internship programs, increasing share of dissertations and seminars, and strengthening supervision on internship programs

Keywords

• comparative research
• method of agreement
• method of difference
• internship curriculum
• teacher education