Influence of the practicum experience on student teachers' beliefs about their role in EFL classrooms

Abstract

As worldwide educational reforms link educational outcomes with teacher performance, teachers are increasingly pressured to adopt several roles that reflect these new demands. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate student teachers' perceptions of their roles and whether these beliefs underwent certain changes during the practicum experience. It also explored the factors within the socio-cultural context that may have influenced the development of their beliefs. A qualitative research methodology was employed, which involved the collection of empirical data from multiple sources including pre- and post-interviews, weekly journals, and mid- and post-reflective essays. The results revealed the intricate nature of student teachers' beliefs about their roles and the processes of belief change. Despite the apparent flexibility of these beliefs, the results revealed the divergence between the student teachers' anticipated roles and their actual roles. To facilitate student teachers' belief change towards the goals of the teacher preparation program as well as those they had initially anticipated for themselves, several recommendations include the necessity of establishing closer partnerships between universities and schools, the exposure to multiple social learning activities, a careful consideration for student teachers' procedural concerns, and the attention to the subtle power relationships that play out during the practicum experience.