Emotional experiences of student teachers during teaching practice: A case study at Unisa

Abstract

Students’ teaching practice plays a significant role in preparing them for the teaching profession. This study focused on the emotional experiences of open distance learning (ODL) student teachers during their teaching practice at schools. A previous investigation by Du Plessis, Marais, Van Schalkwyk and Weeks (2010) indicated that student teachers have to deal with emotions that can be problematic, especially when they have to teach in formal education. The aim of this study was to investigate the emotional experiences of student teachers who were teaching in the Foundation Phase (Grade R to Grade 3) and to make recommendations on how they could deal with their feelings. Students who were enrolled for the BEd (Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase) were purposely sampled to gather data. The data was collected by means of document analysis (questionnaires) and semi-structured interviews. The social learning theory of Bandura (1971) and the cognitive theory of emotions by Schacter and Singer (1962) were used as theoretical frameworks to evaluate the emotional experiences of the student teachers while they were doing their teaching practice at schools. The findings of this study emphasised three negative emotions, namely feelings of anger, fear and confusion. The majority of the participants indicated that they felt scared. Positive emotions like feeling happy (highest ranking); then proud and pleased were also experienced. These findings are significant for improving tutorial matter to provide guidelines for student teachers about how to deal more effectively with their emotions.