Stress in Practicum: Voices of Preservice Teachers, Mentors, Supervisors and Administrators in an English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) Program

Elçin Ölmezer Öztürk*
Department of Foreign Language Education, Anadolu University, Turkey.
Periodicity:February - April'2021
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.14.4.17825

Abstract

This study aims to explore the stress factors of stakeholders in the practicum process of an English Language Teacher Education Program. The participants included 24 preservice teachers (PTs), 11 mentor teachers (MTs), 6 supervisors and 4 school administrators. As for the data collection, PTs and MTs wrote reflection reports, and supervisors and administrators were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The data derived from these tools were analyzed based on a qualitative content analysis scheme. The findings revealed that lack of classroom teaching experience, lack of experience with students, mentors and supervisors, and logistics of practicum were the major stress factors for PTs whereas MTs felt stressed due to their role in the practicum, preservice teachers' characteristics and their self-perception of professional efficacy. On the other hand, it was also found that supervisors' major stress factors included their role in the process and the relationships of preservice teachers at school while administrators were found stressful due to the managerial issues of the practicum process. In the light of these findings, the study offers several suggestions related with the organization of the practicum processes in teacher education departments, and addresses further research points with respect to the psychological aspects of practicum.

Keywords

Practicum, Stress, Teacher education, Preservice Teachers, EFL.

How to Cite this Article?

Öztürk, E. Ö. (2021). Stress in Practicum: Voices of Preservice Teachers, Mentors, Supervisors and Administrators in an English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) Program . i-manager's Journal on Educational Psychology, 14(4), 22-33. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy.14.4.17825

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