Schools, as the central educational organizations, exist against the backdrop of current cultural and social changes and must respond to new challenges. As part of the initiative “New Teacher Preparation” a comprehensive reform of teacher training is taking place in Austria (BMUKK 2010). At the University of Education Upper Austria a fundamentally new constellation of the field experience for student teachers is being developed in conjunction with this new school reform. Internship experience in a newly expanded “field of practice” will soon become mandatory for all degree candidates, (e.g. including options in social work settings, after-school and tutoring programs, cultural centers) or in schools as part of educational settings outside the traditional classroom (e.g. tutoring individuals or providing educational assistance). This relates to the larger democratic goal of expanding the concept of education, and the very concept of school itself, to include extra-curricular and wrap-around fields of practice as a “third space” (Christoforatou 2011) of teacher training. This paper presents key learning experiences and challenges (both individual and organizational) from those involved in the introduction of this expanded field of practice, namely students, mentors, and internship providers. Due to the pilot nature of the project, an explorative multi-perspective approach was used. Joint analysis of both preexisting documents as well as ethnographic data characterize the research program, such as group discussions, photographic records and structured minutes of team meetings and student assemblies. The pilot phase can, in principle, be described as a success because the first cohort of students, mentors, and providers has successfully completed the new internship as planned. However, there were also many resentments and criticisms. Participants expressed the need for greater clarification in terms of content and professionalization, as well as new forms of communication and cooperation. It therefore seems necessary to address, and to provide guidance in cultivating, a comprehensive understanding of the emergent professional self-image of teachers in conjunction with the new educational mission of schools in our changing world.

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