CURRENT REALITIES IN THE STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE - A PRELIMINARY INQUIRY

The experiences of 22 student teachers completing a final 10-week teaching practice in secondary schools were obtained by ethnographic interviewing. Their developing sense of ''belonging'' to the teaching community in their schools was the dominant theme. Recognition by teachers as a colleague and confirmation of teacher status by pupils were major dimensions of this feeling. On the basis of the student narratives, the teaching practice acts most powerfully as an initiation into ''teacherhood'', focused particularly on the classroom and the subject department. The sympathetic and supportive environment of colleagues was especially important in meeting the mentoring needs of the student teachers. It was concluded that initial professional education needs to take more account of the dominant emotional needs of students.