LOOKING OUT AND LOOKING IN: EXPLORING A CASE OF STUDENT TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE CURRICULUM CONTENT OF DISTANCE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM AT ONE GENERAL UNIVERSITY IN PAKISTAN

Objectives: This study was aimed to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the students' perceptions of the clarity of objectives for the selected course content in the distance teacher education program at university level, to compare the perceptions of students towards selection and organization of curriculum content with regards of their enrolled distance learning teacher education program at university level and to explore the perceptions of Student teachers’ gratification towards the proportion of theory and practice in the curriculum with regards to the gender. Materials and Methods: A mixed methods study design was adopted. As a whole, 200 participants were selected randomly for survey. Four focus group discussions were conducted with the participants of the study. Because the investigation was about education problems and the participants also belonged to the education department, they were aware of the technicalities and seriousness of the problem. Results: Out of total one hundred eight seven (187) students (93.5%) returned the completed questionnaire. The overall mean score was 3.627 indicating "more positive than negative perceptions". M.Phil students had positive perceptions towards selection and organization of curriculum content in distance learning teacher education programs at university level than B.Ed, M.Ed and M.A students. Male students were more positive than females towards gratification about the proportion of theory and practice in the curriculum. Conclusions: It is important to assess the students' perceptions of curriculum objectives of their teacher training program. There is a need to improve the content of teacher education institutions according to levels of interest and maturity of student teachers. There is also a need to shift the focus of content from theory to practice. Quality of distance teacher educators needs to be addressed.