Exploring English language teacher educators’ professional development through collaborative partnership with pre-service teachers in supervised practicum.

This study explores the perspectives of 190 fourth-year pre-service EFL teachers across Türkiye on their definitions of ideal language teacher educators and the professional development of teacher educators based on their experiences during teaching practicum in university and practice school contexts. Data were collected through open-ended surveys and analysed qualitatively via coding (Saldana 2009) using content analysis (Patton 2015). The findings indicate that some pre-service teachers (PSTs) lack trust in their teacher educators at both schools and universities, particularly regarding the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application during their practicum experience. Additionally, the findings suggest that language teacher educators’ professional development is enhanced by collaborating with PSTs. The results imply that language teacher educators should encourage self-reflection on their teaching practices, facilitate collaboration with PSTs, and prioritise the development of PSTs’ professional identity through partnerships with teacher educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]