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This study examined the levels of pedagogical knowledge and skills as perceived by student teachers who were enrolled in the Post Graduate Diploma in Education program at the National Institute of Education, Singapore, from the beginning of their initial teacher preparation program to the end of their first year of teaching. Their perceptions were assessed using the Pedagogical Knowledge and Skills in Teaching (PKST) survey which comprised six factors, namely, student learning, lesson planning, instructional support, accommodating diversity, classroom management, and care and concern. A sample of 812 student teachers participated in the study. The [multivariate analysis of variance] MANOVA conducted showed that there were significant increases in both their pedagogical knowledge and skills in teaching in all six factors from the start of their initial teacher preparation (ITP) program till the end of their first year of teaching. However, between the exit from the program to the end of the first year of teaching, they only perceived that their level of pedagogical knowledge in classroom management and care and concern continued to increase significantly. In the case of self-perceived skills, their level increased significantly between entry and exit of the program for all factors, except for care and concern, while the increase between the exit and first year of teaching was significant for all six factors. These results may have implications for preservice teacher education and this will be discussed in this article.

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This paper examined undergraduate pre-service teachers' perceptions of their expectations, fulfilment of these expectations and the relevance of their coursework for classroom practices during three different practicum attachments. These aspects were assessed using questionnaires implemented at the end of each attachment. One-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to compare 76 pre-service teachers' responses. The results showed significant differences in their perceptions across the three attachments. Pairwise t-test comparisons also found some significant differences between attachments. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of implications for continued programme development and enhancements to the practicum component that can help to bridge the theory–practice nexus in pre-service teacher education, and contribute to the development of teachers' professional competencies.

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