Teacher Education Reform in Cambodia: Exploring Professional Identity Development among Cambodian Future Teachers

抄録

Cambodia has recently introduced four-year, university-based teacher education programs to professionalize teaching and improve educational quality, replacing a traditional training-oriented model. This study explores how Cambodian future teachers experience upgraded teacher education and how their views toward knowledge, learning, and teaching profession are shaped. Employing a quantitative approach, survey was conducted with 514 student-teachers enrolled in Teacher Education Colleges in Phnom Penh and Battambang. The analysis reveals that students generally report positive preparation experiences, particularly in teaching practicum, and demonstrate confidence in practical teaching skills. However, gaps exist between students'expectations and actual learning gained in preparation programs, alongside regional disparities between institutions. Future teachers hold similar views toward knowledge and learning, while their views toward teaching and career prospects are diverse. Although teaching is regarded as a professional career by student-teachers, only a minority intend to remain schoolteachers in the long term. These findings suggest that teacher education reform in Cambodia has had mixed effects on professional identity development among future teachers.