Colleges of teacher training devote very little time
to training their students to deal with behaviour
problems, and this is true, in particular, of college
supervisors. Behaviour problems are, by nature,
unexpected and have a chaotic element. In order to
train teachers to deal with them theoretical knowledge,
work in seminars and on-the-spot coping are
all necessary. In the field, it is the college supervisors
who meet with the student teachers and they are the
ones who must aid in bridging the gap between
theory and practice. The argument that they are not
present at times when student teachers must deal
with behaviour problems is proven incorrect in the
present study. The fact that the cooperating teachers
take responsibility for coping with a significant
number of the behaviour problems was clearly
observed. It stands to reason that cooperating
teachers must let student teachers take over their
classes not only for didactic activity; the student
teachers must also deal with routine behaviour
problems. The tendency of teacher training policy to
prevent student teachers from having to intensively
deal with behaviour problems serves as an opening
for college supervisors to avoid this difficult
and complicated area, an area which is extremely
sensitive ideologically. This avoidance legitimises
the lack of training and theoretical knowledge on
the part of the supervisors, themselves, in spite of
the fact that contemporary professional literature is
rich in theoretical knowledge which has practical
implications.