An Exploration of the Formative Experiences of Teaching Internships: Perceptions and Explanations of Impact Across Career Phases

Sandi J Fielder

Australian initial teacher education receives continual critique, with professional experience constantly scrutinised. Calls for pre-service teachers to spend more time in schools earlier in courses dominate this discourse. Teaching internships provide extended time in schools. This research examined an Australian internship program within an urban university, capturing participants’ perspectives on learning to teach. Analysis of data linked Communities of Practice with the Early Career Teacher Resilience Framework to expand insights into how a teaching internship prepares graduates for career entry and how it contributes to traction and retention beyond. Australian literature about the impact of internship across career phases is limited, with a significant gap around participants’ voices. This project followed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach, utilising a survey of 127 respondents, followed by eight semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using a thematic approach based on Communities of Practice. The findings align with the four pillars of Communities of Practice, contextualising what the participants spoke about within their internship school settings. Participants highlighted how the internship provided authentic learning, momentum, and connection with colleagues. These influential groundings in the profession emphasised links between the conceptual frameworks of Communities of Practice and the Early Career Teachers’ Resilience Framework. By drawing these together, participants’ perspectives illustrated influential experiences and opportunities that explained their career entries, progression and trajectories. The critical role internship played in preparing, supporting and retaining these participants in teaching is highlighted by four key roles that evolve from the discussion and conceptual framework. Internship strengthened preparation for teaching, connected pre-service teachers to teaching communities, consolidated the meaning derived from teaching, and underpinned their teacher identities. Findings and implications from this study highlight the imperative that high-quality, classroom-ready teachers are developed through extended internships. The model demonstrates progression and retention, emphasising the significance of internships. These critical understandings offer future opportunities to expand research and practice to strengthen the teaching workforce.

An Exploration of the Formative Experiences of Teaching Internships: Perceptions and Explanations of Impact Across Career Phases

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