There is strong agreement among educational theorists that practicum is a strong and valued component in the education of teachers. However, successes in increasing the participation of equity groups in higher education, such as students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and non-school leavers have challenged assumptions regarding students’ extra-study commitments and the impacts that these might have on learning experiences such as practicum. Based on the experiences of a sample of pre-service teacher education students this research explores the personal and other factors influencing the pre-service teacher experience of practicum, the personal strategies that they use to manage barriers to their full participation, and the types of support they believe could assist them manage these.

Universities are under increasing pressure to provide a range of work integrated learning opportunities, including practicum, to ensure graduates have the skills and knowledge required to transition from education into professional practice. Although a relatively new phenomenon for many disciplines, such work experience practices are an entrenched feature of teacher education. The function of such field studies in teacher education programmes is to introduce pre-service teachers to the realities of teaching and to provide them the opportunity to practice and develop their teaching skills in an authentic but supervised teaching environment. The practicum is widely considered to be the most powerful influence in pre-service teacher education (Bullough et al., 2002). The benefits of practicum are widely accepted and studies document teachers’ claims that their pre-service experience in schools was the most beneficial and influential part of their teacher preparation; indeed claiming that the practicum is where they learned to teach (e.g. Smith & Lev-Ari, 2005).   

Possibly as a result of the evident benefits and wide-spread popularity of such experiences, most research on pre-service teacher practicum experiences has been from the perspective of improving participant learning outcomes (Pellett & Pellett 2005; Petaroudas 2014; Wayda & Lund 2005). As such, studies in the teacher education literature have focussed on the learning outcomes of practicums, meeting student needs during practicums in relation to developing their teaching practice, the value of mentoring to assist with learning outcomes and experiences (Lawson et al. 2015), and ways of improving the coordination between universities and placement schools (Boz & Boz 2006; Allen 2011). Indeed, across most disciplines where practicum is prevalent—such as psychology, education, engineering, social work—research has tended to focus on the ways graduate employability and skills are, or can be, enhanced by the experience (e.g. Coiacetto 2004; Freestone, Thomson & Williams 2006; Ryan, Toohey & Hughes 1996).

Studies have revealed that student teachers undergo considerable personal changes throughout practicum. This includes the development of self-perception, self-efficacy (Martins et al. 2014), professional identity, and ability to deal with the practical and emotional demands of the profession (Kwan & Lopez‐Real 2005). However, the teaching practicum is a psychologically demanding period of professional preparation. In a compressed timeframe, pre-service teachers must juggle demands from students, mentor teachers, school administrators, and university supervisors, all in what is typically a new work environment. For most pre-service teachers, the practicum is rated as the most stressful experience during professional preparation (Chaplain, 2008; Kyriacou & Stephens, 1999). However, to date the socio-emotional, physical and economic factors which can impact on the practicum experience, and the impact that practicum participation can have on other life domains have been underexplored (Petaroudas 2014; Siebert et al. 2006).

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