Abstract:

The article deals with the admission requirements and entrance examinations for graduates who have acquired secondary education and have chosen to study to become teachers of two or more school subjects. The aim of this article is to explore the opinions of enrolled students and teacher educators working as assessors in entrance examinations about admission requirements in pre-service teacher education programme.
The research was conducted as a survey. The data were collected by a content analysis of admission process for selecting entrants to teacher education programmes in countries with similar provision of pre-service teacher education, questionnaire to 69 students and group interviews with 15 students and 12 teacher educators working as assessors in entrance examinations.
The role of the teacher education institutions in the admission process has developed into a twofold responsibility. First, teacher education institutions serve as the initial gatekeepers into the profession, theoretically screening out any individuals who do not show the potential to be effective teachers. Second, these programmes prepare future teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to be effective when they are placed in schools as in-service teachers. The data revealed that the entrance examination raised the attractiveness of the programme and the admission requirements were not difficult to fulfill. The findings highlight that teacher educators working as assessors in entrance examinations need more structured professional learning to determine whether applicants possess the desired attributes to be suitable candidates for teaching.

Keywords:

Admission criteria, entrance examinations, pre-service teacher education.