Experiencing difficulty in internships as a catalyst for improvement in pre-service teachers’ reflective writing skills
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Internships are perceived by pre-service teachers as significant activities in their training and, for some, as a test of endurance, given the difficult realities of the field. To support trainees in improving practical performance, internships often involve writing reflective texts, such as a self-evaluation report. In this study, the authors investigated the links between trainees’ performance and their writing of a report concerning that performance. They analysed 100 reports written by 20 pre-service primary school teachers. They used a mixed-methods approach to examine changes in the text itself and in the quality of their reflexivity over three years of training, for each practical performance-related profile. Their study suggests that practical performance influences the quality of reflective writing in the self-evaluation report. Results revealed that students improve their writing when they experience stronger internship difficulties, which require them to provide justifications, evaluate effects of their practice, and highlight strengths to build on.
Source: Teacher Development
Institutions: UCLouvain, University of Groningen, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4409601550