Pre-service teachers' perception of their competence and their readiness for teaching profession

Abstract

The Indonesian Government takes serious measure on the future prospect of the teacher education graduates who are considered not to have a standardized competence ability to become a professional teacher. It inflicted some responses that opposed with the implementation of the program. This issue highlights the need for a more thorough investigation on the legitimacy of new teachers in Indonesia, as well as their quality. The goal of this study is to learn about pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their own competency and readiness to teach. This quantitative study used internet-based questionnaires to collect the data. The participants were 67 undergraduate students of university in Lamongan, East Java Province. The result of this research showed that p value (.258) is higher () than ɑ value (.05). It means that there were no correlation between pre-service teachers’ perception of their competence and their readiness for teaching profession. Nevertheless, the pre-service teachers have a positive perception regarding their competence and readiness to teach in a professional setting. By realizing and considering their competence and readiness for the teaching profession, they willfeel more confident and ready to face the real environment of teaching as a profession.