Paid internship in preschool teacher education

students' experience

Abstract

One of the main challenges in Icelandic preschools today is the lack of licensed preschool teachers. According to the Preschool Act, two-thirds of staff working with children in preschools should be educated as preschool teachers and licensed as teachers. However, the reality is that in 2021 only 22.8% of those educating preschool children were preschool teachers or 25.3%, including teachers with specializations at different school levels. In 2019, the Icelandic government initiated a five-year campaign to increase the number of teachers in pre-, primary-, and upper secondary schools. One aspect of that campaign was paid internship in the graduate year within the teacher education programme. The internship involves a half-time job in pre-or primary school, during one school year. The aim of the internship is to increase student teachers’ competences to face the challenges of the teaching profession when they graduate, with increased likelihood of a successful career.

In autumn 2022, the fourth school year started when paid internship is included in the teacher education. Therefore, it is important to study the experience of different parties who have been involved in the paid internship these four years. The aim of this study is to explore student teachers’ experience of paid internship in their final year of studies and the findings will be, inter alia, useful in developing how the internship is arranged, continuing what has been successful and dealing with the challenges the students have faced. In future studies, the experience of different parties will be explored, the mentors’, preschool principals, and university teachers.

The study is descriptive and non-experimental where the aim is to describe a certain phenomenon, namely, students’ experience of paid internship. Data was gathered through a questionnaire sent to students in paid internship within preschool teacher education at the University of Iceland, and at the University of Akureyri since preschool teacher education was established there in autumn 2019. The questionnaire was sent to 201 students with a 63% response rate. The questionnaire included open-ended and closed questions. Students were asked about their experience of the paid internship, their experience of guidance in the field and their experience of courses and assignments relating to the internship.

The findings show that students’ experience of the paid internship is generally positive. The same was revealed concerning guidance in the field and the courses and assignments relating to the internship. However, a considerable number of students did not receive the allocated guidance hours each month, according to the agreement between the university and the preschool. Former studies have shown how important the mentor’s role is in field practice. Most of the students found that the internship was good preparation for the preschool teacher profession. They felt empowered in their work and more confident as professionals. The findings show, however, that there seems to be some misunderstanding about the arrangement of the internship and how it should be part of the preschool practice. This was noted as some students found it difficult to integrate their internship with their work.

Even though most students were positive, a few mentioned factors they were dissatisfied with, such as the attendance requirement or the competence of the mentors in the field. Some suggested that their former work experience in preschool should be valued. These are all very important suggestions for further development of the paid internship if it is to be continued as part of teacher education.

The findings indicate that paid internship in preschool teacher education is effective for student teachers, and it is important to continue to offer paid internship as a learning and developing opportunity for future preschool teachers. The arrangement of the internship must be clarified as well as the roles of different participant. In sum, the action research approach approved to be effective for the aim of the internship and the teacher students’ professional development.