The Challenges Faced by Student Teachers During Practicum While Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities in High School Level in Kuwait and Egypt : A Comparative Study

The research aims to explore the challenges faced by student teachers during practicum while teaching students with learning disabilities in Kuwait and Egypt. The researcher conducted this exploration using a comparative descriptive analytical approach. We handpicked a simple random sample of (268) student teachers, (112) from Kuwait and (156) from Egypt. A specially designed questionnaire was utilized to collect data on the challenges these students encounter. The results indicated that the challenges faced by practical education students in Egypt were high, with an average of (3.935). The challenges related to the academic supervisor ranked first, followed by those related to the curriculum for students with learning disabilities, then challenges related to the students with learning disabilities themselves, followed by challenges related to the cooperating school, then challenges related to the student teacher, and finally challenges related to the practical education program. Conversely, the challenges faced by practical education students in Kuwait were weak, with an average of (2.125). The challenges related to the curriculum for students with learning disabilities ranked first, followed by challenges related to the students with learning disabilities, then challenges related to the cooperating school, followed by challenges related to the academic supervisor, and finally challenges related to the student teacher and the practical education program. The results also indicated statistically significant differences between practical education students in Egypt and Kuwait across all studied axes, in favor of Egyptian students. This suggests that students in Egypt face greater challenges in teaching students with learning disabilities than their counterparts in Kuwait. Additionally, the results showed no statistically significant differences in the challenges faced by practical education students in Egypt attributed to the variable of specialization. Based on these results, we recommend enhancing training programs for practical education students to improve their ability to deal with students with learning disabilities. The study also recommends developing curricula that include more materials related to teaching students with learning disabilities, thus enhancing their readiness.