“Cooperation with a peer in practicum is nice but teaching alone makes me feel I am teaching for real.” How pre-primary and primary student teachers experience single and paired field placements

Abstract

As part of the reform of teacher education, field placements for student teachers have been expanded and new forms such as paired field placements implemented into standard programmes. For many years, the single field placement has been the standard model for student teachers, but various forms of paired internships have been introduced. However, little is known about the processes of cooperative learning during field placements and how student teachers benefit from different forms of field placement, such as single versus paired field placements.This qualitative study aims at a deeper understanding of student teachers’ learning in single and paired field placements from student teachers’ perspective. Theoretically, our study is based on the offer-and-use model in field experiences combined with the autonomy-parity pattern. Student teachers (N = 20) from the University of Teacher Education in Bern, Switzerland, were interviewed in depth about their learning gains after completing four paired field placements and one single field placement. Results showed that although student teachers appreciate the work and exchange with a peer, the majority of student teachers prefer single field placements. The desire for autonomy and the ability to work flexibly in single field placements seemed to outweigh the advantages of paired field placements. The majority of students considered single field placements to be closer to reality. The results encourage future discussion and research about student teachers’ attitudes towards field placements and the teaching profession.