Identity Formation and School Experience among University Students in A Teacher Training Program: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Study during the Teaching Practicum

Abstract

ABSTRACT Students’ identity formation is intertwined with school experience. Despite the importance of career-related school experience and school events for their identity, few studies have focused on students in vocational education. To address this gap, this study examined bidirectional effects between identity formation and school experience (teacher skills reconsideration and teacher career reconsideration) among teacher training students focusing on the teaching practicum. A total of 152 university students in the teacher training program in Japan participated in surveys twice before (T1 and T2) and twice after (T3 and T4) the teaching practicum. Cross-lagged analysis revealed that bidirectional effects were pronounced especially before (T2) and after (T3) the teaching practicum, demonstrating that commitment making positively and identification with commitment negatively predicted teacher skills reconsideration, and ruminative exploration positively predicted teacher career reconsideration, whereas teacher skills reconsideration predicted positively commitment making and exploration in depth and negatively ruminative exploration, and teacher career reconsideration predicted negatively commitment making and positively ruminative exploration. These findings highlight bidirectional relationships between identity formation and specific school experience in vocational education, and the importance of school events (teaching practicum) serving as a turning point in which these relationships are more pronounced than during the regular school period.