Perception of M.Ed. Student-Teachers Towards Internship as a Part of Teacher Training Programme

Teaching is an exciting and rewarding activity but like other professions it is demanding as it requires that its practitioners clearly understand what should be done to bring about the most desirable learning in the pupil and be highly proficient in the skills necessary to carry out these tasks. All the teachers training institutions are not only imparting theoretical but also practical knowledge and skill in teaching different subjects to prospective teachers. There are many parts of teacher training programme like Internship, sessional Work, Project work, micro and macro teaching etc. Internship is an integral part of professional preparation that includes practice – teaching and wide variety of field experience under the guidance of a competent or expert supervisor. Internship in M.Ed. is very essential for today’s teacher because it gives proper training to the student-teachers for better understanding of all the students. It builds confidence among the student-teachers. Therefore, the objective of the study is to know the perception of M.Ed. students-teachers towards the internship programme. In the present study, the researcher has used the descriptive method of research. The total sample includes 100 M.Ed. students-teachers from three M.Ed. colleges of Jammu. A Self-constructed questionnaire was prepared to collect the required data. After collecting the data, the frequencies were calculated to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed positive perception of student-teachers towards internship as a part of professional preparation of teacher. The present study is helpful for educationists, practitioners, students, stakeholders, policy-makers, teachers and parents.


Introduction
Teaching is an exciting and rewarding activity but like other professions it is demanding as it requires that its practitioners clearly understand what should be done to bring about the most desirable learning in the pupil and be highly proficient in the skills necessary to carry out these tasks.All the teachers training institutions are not only imparting theoretical but also practical knowledge and skills in teaching different subjects to prospective teachers.At the end of the semester, teaching practice is carried out for practical application of theoretical understanding about different teaching methods.Teaching is the process by which a person helps other people to learn.It is one of our most important activities.

Internship
In the completion of professional courses, internship plays an important role.It is also known as practical • Email: editor@ijfmr.com

IJFMR240114216
Volume 6, Issue 1, January-February 2024 2 education.Internship in teaching includes practice-teaching and wide variety of experience under the guidance of a competent or expert supervisor.During internship trainees acquire knowledge of teaching and learn or sharpen the needed skills, attitudes and values associated with efficient performance of their job.Trainees get opportunities to participate in all academic, administrative, organizational and managerial activities, so that they can get practical experiences of one real teacher, develop proper attitude, which make them confident and skilful professional teachers in future.
A teacher trainee's internship is a crucial component of their professional development.It is organized and managed by the teacher education institution in collaboration with one or more schools, and it results from their successful participation, observation, and teaching in a real-world classroom setting.An intern is a future teacher who accepts an internship position where he is assigned to teach under supervision.An internship gives a teacher candidate the chance to get all the skills they need for both professional and academic development (longchar, 2022).

Importance of Internship in M.Ed. curriculum
The internship is very essential for today's teacher because it gives proper training to the pupil-teacher for better understanding of all the students.It builds confidence among the pupil-teachers.A trained teacher can essentially face the class with confidence.Teacher can tackle many odd situations and does not run away from problematic situations, all these problems of teachers in education are solved by introduction of internship.Internship is the programme that reduces the complexities among teachers and helps the teacher to face the class in a better way than the teacher without a proper training.It develops positive attitude for continuous learning and keeping interns updated with latest content and methodology.Actually, it helps the teacher to build upon their existing skills to become autonomous, reflective, collaborative manager of learning ready to enter the teaching profession.
One of the components of the two-year M.Ed.degree is the internship program.It is crucial for students to gain acquainted with teacher education colleges through internships in order to comprehend the routines and practices that are followed in educational establishments.Students oversee and take part in the college's academic activities.The student teachers' extracurricular activities are expertly planned by the student.During the internship program, students oversee and take part in the management of the colleges' administrative operations.Developing competences, abilities, interest, and expectations in preparation for a career in teacher education is the overarching goal of the teacher education program.It also aims to integrate real-world experience with classroom instruction to create a more comprehensive learning process (Chavan and Khandagale, 2017).
Review of Related Literature Saleha (2012) found that student-teachers view internship program as a real opportunity to refine and improve their teaching skills in actual school setting.Acharya and Kumar (2021) stated that there was a dire need to well-organise the internship programme with a proper coordination to improve the quality of teacher education programme.Mishra (2015) stated that internship is a major part of B.Ed curriculum which will include full time engagement in real school situation for a prolonged period of 16 weeks duration.Singh (2013) found that there was no significant difference in the attitude of male and female pupil teachers towards internship.There was no significant difference in the attitude of pupil teachers belonging to locality (urban and rural) towards internship.Kumar (2016) found significant difference in the attitude of male and female pupil teachers towards internship.There exist significant triple interactional difference of gender, stream and academic qualification in the attitude of pupil teacher towards internship.There found no significant difference of stream, qualification, gender and stream, gender and qualification and stream and qualification in the attitude of pupil teacher towards internship as a part of B.Ed curriculum.

Justification of the Study
Internship is a new innovation in the field of education.It plays a very important role in improving the competency and effectiveness of teacher.It modifies the pupil teacher's behavior according to the specified objectives.Sharma and Chahal (2022) concluded that Internship plays a significant role in the overall development of the student-teachers.Like all other professional programmes, field engagement is an essential component of any teacher education programme.Jogan and Sushma (2019) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of school Internship and results found internship program trained the teacher trainees about real work and it gave them an opportunity to integrate theory and practice, plan and deliver lessons, critically analyze teaching styles and improve their performances in relation to the feedback received from the supervisors.Internship helped the teacher trainees to develop an understanding of the role and responsibilities of a professional teacher and experience the different aspects of the school program which helped them to improve their skills and abilities of teaching.So, the researcher decided to conduct research on this topic in order to know about the perception of student-teachers towards internship as a part of M.Ed.curriculum.

Objective of the Study
To study the importance of internship as perceived by M.Ed.student-teachers.

Delimitations of the Study
1.The study was limited to M.Ed.students of Jammu District only 2. The present study was confined to the M.Ed.students of University of Jammu only.

Method Used
In the study, the researcher has used the descriptive survey method of research.

Population
For the study, population consisted students studying in M.Ed.programme in Jammu district.

Sample
In the present study100 students of M.Ed.programme were selected randomly.

Tool Used
Self-constructed questionnaire was prepared with the consultation of the language and subject experts for gathering the data.

Data Collection
For the collection of the data the investigator visited three teacher education institutions of Jammu district.

Analysis
Simple percentage was employed to analyze the data.There is a lack of facilities for conducting internship programme.75% Eighty six percent respondents responded positively that internship is a bridge between education theory and practice.Ninety six percent respondents responded that internship provides skilled knowledge as there are various activities which are to be performed by the trainees.Ninety one percent respondents favoured that internship develops self confidence among student-teachers because trainees have to perform various roles which helps in developing the confidence among them.
Eighty seven percent respondents stated that internship develops feeling of cooperation among studentteachers.They perform activities collectively in a group and also take each other's help.
Ninety percent respondents responded that internship reflects teaching style and practice.
Eighty five percent respondents accepted that internship refines and improves teaching style and practice as trainees practiced the different skills regularly in the real classroom setting.
Eighty percent respondents accepted that internship helps in studying psychology of students.The trainees deal with the students individually and also deals with them.
Eighty eight percent respondents responded positive response that internship helps in action research as the trainees deals with the student's day-to-day life issues.Seventy eight percent respondents responded positive response that internship removes inferiority complex among student-teachers because during teaching practice teacher trainees demonstrate different skill of teaching, conducts various activities at their own.Eighty eight percent respondents responded positive response that internship helps in improving way of teaching as the teacher trainees get feedback from their peers and supervisors.Eighty three percent respondents believed that internship develops good relationship between students because teacher trainees interact with students on daily basis and also conduct various co-curricular activities.
Eighty eight percent respondents responded positive response that internship boosts motivational level of pupil teachers as there is real classroom experience which help in overcoming the fear of teaching among pupil teachers.Sixty percent respondents responded that internship hinders the regular class work as there is less time to cover all the aspects of syllabus because of more focus on internship related activities.
Thirty eight percent respondents agreed that pupil teachers feel discouraged during internship as they have to complete all the activities within stipulated time and it was hectic for them to complete.Fifty four percent respondents agreed that the period of internship is too long and it is not possible to complete the theory part because of the less time.
Forty one percent respondents believed that internship act as a burden on students as there are lot of activities other than teaching practice which are to be completed and students focused on completion process without understanding the importance.Seventy five percent respondents accepted that there is a lack of facilities like proper room for trainees, playground, smart boards etc. for conducting internship programme.There should be creativeness in internship so that the student-teachers do not feel it as a burden but enjoy the whole process.New technologies should be used for making teaching learning process more effective.
Students should be sent to good schools with suitable learning environment.The school location should be accessible both for supervisors and students.