Managing the personal impact of practicum: Examining the experiences of graduate diploma in education students

Through the voices and experiences of pre-service teachers (PSTs), this chapter identifies the personal impacts of participation in practicum, beyond the impacts of professional development and in situ learning. This chapter addresses an issue that warrants considerable discussion in initial teacher education: How can academics, universities, placement schools, mentor teachers and other PSTs better support PSTs in preparation for and during their practicum experiences. Bringing the everyday life of PSTs to the interrogation of professional learning and study, we highlight the complementary role of personal coping strategies (many of which are taken into post-graduation professional teaching practice) and institutional supports in managing a successful practicum experience. In particular, we explore the extent to which the intensive short-term nature of the practicum experience is likely to disrupt many of the longer term strategies that PSTs put in place and which are intensified in the pressure-cooker environment of the practicum.