The suitability of teaching profession for pedagogical students: The Vietnamese view

Abstract

The quality of teacher education plays an important role in improving the quality of general education. The model of teacher education is also different in countries around the world, and for each model, training teachers suitable for teaching profession is always a matter of concern in the training programs of universities. The paper analyzes the current situation of career suitability of pedagogical students and the meaning of teaching profession suitability assessment in the training process of pedagogical universities in Vietnam. We have built a questionnaire to determine teacher suitability based on the toolkit of the University of Potsdam. Each student was guided to answer two forms of questionnaires: self-assessment of their career suitability and external or cross-evaluation. Then, we used the mean comparison, which is the t-test for two independent samples. The paper presents the results of a pilot assessment of the suitability of the teaching profession for nearly 1000 teacher students of a number of pedagogical universities in the country. Initial research results show that the job suitability of many teacher students is very low, and the students’ ability to adapt to their careers after graduation is still limited. Therefore, the career suitability scale can help students self-assess and evaluate each other, thereby building a plan for self-adjustment and self-improvement of personal competencies and qualities throughout the training process at the university toward a higher level of suitability for the teaching profession. This study also points out some measures to help teacher students practice pedagogical skills, nurture their love, and career ideals.