Student Teachers’ Emotional Encounters During Teaching Practicum in Relation to Micropolitical School Context

• In Event: Mental Health and Teacher Preparation Demands Our Attention: What We Don't Talk About Will Hurt Us

Abstract

Teaching practicum is an emotional journey encompassing power relations yet nonetheless, a unique opportunity for student-teachers to understand the reality of teaching and immerse themselves into school culture. This explorative study investigates student-teachers’ emotional encounters through their interactions with university supervisors, mentor teachers, and teacher colleagues in the placement schools. Data were derived from semi-structured interviews with 11 student-teachers, with the focus on collecting the critical incidents which had happened in their practicum. Findings of this study illustrate student-teachers encountered emotions towards multiple power relations. Further, student-teachers are situated in a micropolitical context where both formal and informal power relations exist in their interactions with others. Exploring micropolitical landscapes could identify the presence of multiple power relations in emotional encounters.

Authors

• Chrysa Pui Chi Keung, Education University of Hong Kong

• Anna Yik On Chan, The Education University of Hong Kong