Practicum in Early Childhood Education: Student Teachers' Perspectives

Practicum is a central component of initial teacher education programs. Most teacher education studies focus on practicum in primary and secondary school, while the practicum in kindergartens has received less attention in international literature. The goal of this study is to explore student teachers' perceptions of practicum experience in kindergarten, within the context of an initial teacher education program. A total of 42 final year student teachers enrolled in the Pedagogy of Primary and Preschool Education program at a Romanian university participated in the study. They completed a questionnaire about their final practicum experience in kindergarten, concerning the benefits of the practicum, the difficulties encountered, and the ways of coping with them. The main benefits reported by the participants were: professional relationships, planning and practicing teaching, professional and personal skill development, and insights into the preschool education system. Difficulties included implementing instruction, class management and self-concerns issues. The student teachers relied on internal resources, but also on external resources (the preschool mentor teachers, the student teacher supervisor and the colleagues) for overcoming the difficulties encountered during practicum. Based on their testimonies, we suggest possible improvements to the teacher education program.