Abstract

 The study was carried out to examine the perceived challenges faced by student teachers during teaching practice in Universities in Abia state. The design of the study was descriptive survey. The population of the study is made of 1100 300 level Psychology and Counselling student-teachers in public universities in Abia State. The sample size for the study comprised 96 respondents selected through purposive sampling, while a researchers’ self-developed questionnaire titled: “Perceived Challenges of Students-Teachers on Teaching Practice Questionnaire (PCSTTPQ)” was used for data collection. Three experts validated the instrument and the instrument yielded 0.60 coefficient. Three research questions and three null PERCE,VE0 CH^LL^NGES^FACED^BYgSTUDENT TEACHERS ON TEACHING By Salome Chidinma Chikezie PhD [email protected] 08034716873 Department of Psychology and Counselling, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, llmudike, Abia State, Nigeria and Ali, E. N.Ph.D Email: [email protected] Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Ogboko Ideato North Local Government Area, Imo State hypotheses guided the study. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant. The result revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean score responses of male and female students on the challenges faced by student-teachers during teaching practice, there is no significant difference in the mean score responses of male and female students on the perceived impact of the challenges on teaching profession and there is no significant difference in the mean score responses of male and female students on the perceived strategies that can be employed to reduce the challenges faced by students during teaching practice. It was therefore recommended among others that there should be proper orientation for student-teachers before going on teaching practice exercise. During this orientation exercise, micro-teaching could be organized for the student-teachers. This will make them gain enough confidence during the real exercise. Keywords: Perceived Challenges Faced, Student-Teachers, Teaching Practice