Examining the Professional Development Processes of Pre-service English Teachers in Turkey

The aim of this study is to reveal the development of the professional knowledge and competencies of pre-service English teachers through the practice of lesson study. The action research method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this research. Action plans are prepared in two cycles. Accordingly, each lesson plan represents action research and two cycles. The study group of the research consisted of two pre-service English teachers from among fourth-year students studying in the English language teaching department of a public university and taking teaching practice courses. In the research, interview, observation, reflective daily form, student evaluation form and the letter about the process were used as data collection tool. At the end of the research, it was concluded that the lesson study method improved pre-service teachers’ student-centered methods and technique usage skills and positively affected the pre-service teachers’ views of the teaching profession and developed their beliefs about being successful teachers.