Practicum, a word that brings both excitement and anxiety to the average post-secondary student enrolled in an education program. Practicum allows a student to gain practical experience in a specific area of study while under the supervision of an experienced professional. Typically, education practicums also consist of field experience directly in grade school classrooms. How are practicums beneficial to education students and should practicums remain a requirement in education programs?
How are practicums beneficial? Practicums are beneficial to education students’ learning as they help them make connections between what they have learned in their post-secondary classes and how it relates to their practicum experience (Lawson, Çakmak, Gündüz, & Busher 2015). This connection building is fostered through experiential learning. Experiential learning is a 4 step cycle that leads to learning during field experiences (Kolb, 2015). Student teachers complete step 1 on their first day at the grade school, which is the new experience. In numerous education programs student teachers are required to record their experiences from the week and reflect on them later with their supervisors and during seminars with peers (Smith & Lev‐Ari, 2005). The reflection completes step 2 of the cycle. Student teachers then think about their experience and what changes they could implement in the coming week, this completes step 3. Step 4 of the cycle is completed when the student teacher implements the change, resulting in a new experience and the cycle repeating itself.
What exactly are the benefits of practicums? Student teachers generally have strong beliefs about education and learning before starting their practicum (Burns & Danyluk 2017). Student teachers tend to be more focused on teaching material to pupils rather than helping them learn at the beginning of their first practicum. Through out practicum the student teachers beliefs are tested and in turn become more refined, if not changed all together. During practicum student teachers are able to observe how theory is put into practice by watching professional teachers teach their pupils (Lawson, Çakmak, Gündüz, & Busher 2015). It is possible then that teachers that participate in practicum are better able to support the learning of their pupils than teachers who did not. A study by Smith & Lev‐Ari, 2005 demonstrates how practicums on average are perceived by students that engage in them. The study found that majority of students rated practicum to be the most important part of their educational program. Though it was also reported by the students that they understood and appreciated the knowledge that was being taught on the subject matter in the classroom.
What are some of the costs of practicum? Some student teachers experience high stress during practicum and this tends to occur when a student’s practicum expectation does not meet reality (Gillett-Swan & Grant-Smith 2017). Instructors and practicum supervisors can help alleviate this stress by validating the student’s feelings and working with them to help overcome their obstacles. By the 2nd practicum many individuals stress significantly decreases (Smith & Lev‐Ari, 2005). The costs of practicums are relatively low when compared to the benefits.
Overall, the benefits outweigh the costs of practicum and practicum should remain a requirement of education programs. The benefits of practicum in education programs are getting out of the classroom and having hands on experience with teaching. Through field experience students are becoming active learners and creating those bridges between what they have learned in the classroom and how it relates to the field. Though practicum may cause some stress the benefits are great.
Literature Cited
Burns, Amy, and Patricia Danyluk. “Applying Kolb’s Model to a Nontraditional Preservice Teaching Practicum.” Journal of Experiential Education, vol. 40, no. 3, 2017, pp. 249–263., doi:10.1177/1053825917696832.
Gillett-Swan, Jenna, and Deanna Grant-Smith. “Complex, Compound and Critical: Recognising and Responding to the Factors Influencing Diverse Preservice Teacher Experiences of Practicum.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 45, no. 4, 2017, pp. 323–326., doi:10.1080/1359866x.2017.1343590.
Kolb, D. A. (2015). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
Lawson, Tony, et al. “Research on Teaching Practicum – a Systematic Review.” European Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 38, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 392–407., doi:10.1080/02619768.2014.994060.
Smith, Kari, and Lilach Lev‐Ari. “The Place of the Practicum in Pre‐Service Teacher Education: the Voice of the Students.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 33, no. 3, 2005, pp. 289–302., doi:10.1080/13598660500286333.
Psychology of Education 
I agree that practicums are an essential part of education. Although I do have some issues with practicums. The first is that they are not paid. I know that they say it’s because we are receiving an education and I can get on board with that until we are not getting an education. The quality of education lacks in some cases. Where you are placed is random. I have heard so many stories of my fellow students or friends being placed and their mentors are just sitting in another room having a break, getting paid, letting the student do all the work. If we are paying for this unpaid experience, we should expect quality education in the practicum.
Gizum Mutlu (2014) did a study with pre-service teachers. They answered questionnaires after their practicum placements, and the results are telling. One student said that she learned how not to teach after being in her mentors class. The education received at university is not the same as the witnessed teaching in the practicum. The mentor would talk to herself and not ask the students questions. The pre-service teacher felt she was showing her mentor how to be an effective teacher. Another pre-service teacher was in a class where they were teaching English. The mentor had many errors in their English and found she was not proficient enough even to be teaching it. And the last one I will mention is one who spoke on classroom management. This pre-service teacher admitted to not being prepared at all; the methodology classes they took at university did not prepare them for a real classroom. I could see that with this comment we can argue that this is what practicums are for, but shouldn’t we be able to come to the practicum and be able to apply the things which were taught in university? If the methodology and practicum are vastly different, I don’t understand the purpose of the program. Practicums are only valuable if you have a program that compliments one another, the university methodology and the classroom environment. We need mentors that are well trained themselves and not just excited they have a student-teacher so they can just sit there to get paid and do nothing valuable.
Mutlu, G. (2014). Challenges in practicum: pre-service and cooperating teachers’ voices. Journal of Education and Practice. Vol 5, No 36
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.735.5663&rep=rep1&type=pdf
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I totally agree! I have heard so many stories of this! My friend was in a classroom in Education 2500, and she said for her “practicum” (more a school experience) she was in the worst class ever. The teacher was constantly yelling at the kids, and classroom management was a joke. The professor said to my friend at the end of the class that he was amazed she was incredibly obsessed the whole semester about proper classroom management, and my friend said he would’ve been the same if he saw the state of the class she was in.
Alyssa Palazzolo in her article states the 3C’s of an effective mentor.
1) as a consultant: a mentor is there to offer support and provide resources
2) as a collaborator, a mentor is there to create challenge and encourage growth
3) as a coach who facilitates professional vision (supports developing the mentee’s independence, confidence and self coaching to reach their full potential) (Palazzolo, 325).
I do find that although she addresses mentors in this article, these criteria should apply to teacher mentors as well.
I really think practicums are beneficial as long as the relationship with the TA is positive and the TA is actually giving guidance and suggestions on how to do things, especially since the professor can’t be there all the time. The professor can give suggestions in class, but when it comes down to it, the TA is the one who has responsibility to guide the student teacher and give tips on how to do things as they happen. When I hear stories of how the TA’s are gone to conferences, or lets the student teacher totally take over a class so they can go somewhere else to do something for several hours, I’m sorry but that’s not proper teaching. Then all they’re doing is increasing the numbers of unprepared teachers in the classroom, and increasing the possibility of more students getting a horrible schooling experience, which in turn has a negative impact on academics.
I really think the fact that many of us hear stories of awful teacher mentors shows that there is a gap in how they are getting hired. To be honest, I do not know what the hiring process is, but I firmly believe that there has to be more to it than a baseline interview. They need to be able to see the prospective mentor’s class, and get a feel for how they teach and treat students. Hearing stories like this, I’m afraid many are just in it for the money, not to help student teachers succeed.
References:
1.Palazzolo, Alyssa et al (2018). Working Towards Change: The Impact of Mentor Development on Associate Teachers and Faculty Advisors. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-019-09365-1
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My practicum experiences to date have been very beneficial for me even though I did struggle and was rather stressed. The longer a student is in practicum the less stressed they will become. I think a lot of my stress stemmed from being unsure of what was expected of me and miscommunication between teachers, students, and the university. Despite this, I still think practicum is essential for future teachers. Can you imagine never teaching anyone other than your peers and then being thrown into a grade 4 classroom without any practical experience or guidance? No thank you! I do agree with the comments that have already been made though – the teacher associate can either make or break your practicum experience. Thompson and Schademan suggested a coaching model; “Coaching models of supervision are more productive for candidate development because they provide input in smaller doses, which can be implemented and practiced immediately” (2019). Being a mentor teacher adds a lot to the plate of the teacher. They are expected to teach a classroom of students and a student teacher simultaneously. Student teachers learn through their observations, their practice and the feedback provided. Although not every practicum experience can be exceptional, the general outline of practicums remains significantly beneficial because they utilize each step within the experiential learning process.
References
Thompson, M., & Schademan, A. (2019). Gaining fluency: Five practices that mediate effective co-teaching between pre-service and mentor teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86, 102903. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2019.102903
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I agree that practicum can be a stressful time if the student teacher is not properly supported by the supervising teacher. The stress from the practicum can lead to minimal skill acquisition and could even deter prospective teachers from the education field.
I looked further into the research after reading the comments on this aspect and found a study by Becker, Waldis, & Staub, 2019 that looked at content-focused coaching. In the study it is stated that an effective practicum relies on proper support mechanisms for the student teachers. Content-focused coaching consists of a pre-lesson meeting between the supervising teacher and the student teacher to go over the content that is going to be taught in the next lesson and what the effective ways the content could be delivered is. It gives time for the student teacher to ask questions about the lesson plan and allows the student teacher to be informed prior to the lesson. There is also a post-lesson meeting between the supervising teacher and the student teacher to review how they both felt the lesson went. Instructional and emotional support is then being provided to student teachers through this method.
Content-focused coaching could lead to better experiences for student teachers during practicum as they would have a support mechanism in place. It could increase their confidence in teaching lessons to a class and improve the overall quality of the delivery. I think it would be beneficial if more educational programs that use practicums work with grade schools to ensure a method like this is in place for their student teachers.
Literature Cited
Becker, E. S., Waldis, M., & Staub, F. C. (2019). Advancing student teachers’ learning in the teaching practicum through Content-Focused Coaching: A field experiment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 83, 12–26. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2019.03.007
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This class has touched on the idea that lecturing is an ineffective way for students to learn. If education students were thrown into their careers without any experience or practice, and just with university lectures to get them by, the future generation of both teachers and students would be doomed. It is one thing to read about something than to experience it. Reading lectures and notes on “how to be a good teacher” or “how to teach” would be ineffective because in each teaching experience, every single student and classroom is diverse.
The article “Experience Preferred: Insights From Our Newest Public Health Professionals on How Internships/Practicums Promote Career Development” stresses how this type of mentored experience is an important aspect of “career development for the next generation of professionals and benefits not only the students but also the profession and the communities in which they work” (Hernandez, Bejarano, Reyes, Chavez & Mata, 95). The article further discusses perspectives on the benefits of practicums and claims that “from a career development perspective, practicums provide unique opportunities to develop professional networks, practice competencies learned in the classroom, gain experience in different environments, and share lessons learned with others in our field” (Hernandez, Bejarano, Reyes, Chavez & Mata, 96). By allowing prospective teachers into the classroom environment, they are able to experience teaching for what it really is, and not just what it’s lectured/written down to be. Lectures most likely teach best case scenarios- if a new teacher enters a classroom on their first day expecting it to be as taught in the lectures, they will fail miserably. Practicums allow prospective teachers to build connections with students, adapt to the classroom’s inevitable changes, and encourage further career development.
Hernandez, K., Bejarano, S., Reyes, F., Chavez, M., & Mata, H. (2014). Experience Preferred: Insights From Our Newest Public Health Professionals on How Internships/Practicums Promote Career Development. Health Promotion Practice, 15(1), 95-99. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26740929
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Hi there! As a student in the education program, I really do believe that practicums are an essential part of gaining experience in the profession. As I was reading your post, the potential drawbacks of practicums felt really relatable. I have personally felt high levels of stress and anxiety during my previous practicums and I have a lot of friends who have felt similarly.
I found this interesting study that was completed on pre-service teachers that looked at why students experience anxiety and stress during practicums. One of the main factors that can cause students stress is the fear of making a mistake and being evaluated on that. Many student teachers feel anxious and stressed that they will be unable to meet the expectations of their teacher assistant or supervisors. Lastly, many students can feel anxious due to a lack of preparation. Similar to the recommendations you made in your post, this study also suggested ensuring that students are placed in practicums with a friendly teaching staff to ensure that students are placed in low-stress situations.
Although practicums can cause student teachers to experience high levels of stress or anxiousness, I do agree with you that the benefits outweigh the costs. As students continue in their practicums, their stress often decreases as they get more comfortable with the students in their class and the supervising staff.
References:
Eksi, G. Y., & Yakisik, B. Y. (2016). To Be Anxious or Not: Student Teachers in the Practicum. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(6). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1103192
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I find this topic very interesting as I am going into my final practicum this upcoming spring semester. Thus far, my practicum experiences have been characterized by tremendous growth and reflection. They have exposed me to a variety of teaching practices and classroom management strategies that I hope to utilize in my own classroom one day. Extending on what you wrote about making connections, practicums allow pre-service teachers to “successfully apply the theoretical aspects of their coursework to the real-world context of the classroom” working to “bridge the theory-practice gap” (Choy et al., 2014, p.472). Pre-service teachers need to apply what they have learned to see what strategies work for them and the classes they are working with during their placements. In the study I explored, when three different practicums were ‘built up’ in a gradual way (transitioning from observation to independent teaching), it allowed for increased professional growth and development amongst the student teachers and decreased stress by the time the students reached the final practicum (Choy et al., 2014). As you mentioned in your post, teachers’ beliefs can become refined or changed throughout practicum experiences. I believe that this is because practicums expose pre-service teachers to the realities of teaching and encourage critical reflection. I think that practicums are incredibly beneficial and help to shape pre-service teachers through practice and guidance.
Choy, D., Wong, A. F. L., Goh, K. C., & Low, E. L. (2014). Practicum experience: Pre-service teachers’ self-perception of their professional growth. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(5), 472-482. doi: 10.1080/14703297.2013.791552.
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I could not agree more that practicum experience is an extremely important tool in the education system. I have watched my girlfriend (As well as other close friends) go through the combined degree program at the U of L and it is evident that,by far, the most beneficial phase of the degree is the last two years of actually being in the faculty of education and doing the practicums. In fact I find it extremely frustrating that the last two years are so very beneficial while it seems like the first 3 years relatively pointless in terms of learning how to be an effective teacher. Practicum experience has been proven to be of crucial to becoming a teacher and has been identified as the most important experiences in the education program. (Baum and Korth 2013)
References
Baum, A. C., & Korth, B. B. (2013). Preparing classroom teachers to be cooperating teachers: A report of current efforts, beliefs, challenges, and associated recommendations. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 34(2), 171–190.
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Yes practicums are a great learning experience before actually entering the workforce. I also agree that you can be placed in a practicum setting that is either great or not so great! but if you really think about it you learn from it either way. You learn what skills you can utilize and you also learn what no to do in a setting if you end up in a not so great practicum placement. I think also the best part of practicums is you have learned skills in the field that you can use on your resume, and if the placement is a reputable placement then it only looks better on you as a professional in your field. Another benefit of practicum is it also gives feedback to the educator (school) what they need to address in their program as mentioned by Jusoh (n.d.) “The university should also review its program from time to time as to ensure that it is relevant to and in line with current practices. Not only that, the lecturers involved in teaching the students have to update their knowledge in the field as the study has shown that some of the lessons the student teachers learnt in class cannot be applied in the real world.” and in turn have students who are well-equipped once they enter the workforce.
Reference
Jusoh, Z. (n.d.) Teaching Practicum: Student Teachers’ Perspectives. Retrieved May 27, 2020 from http://www.litu.tu.ac.th/journal/FLLTCP/Proceeding/865.pdf.
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