What Makes Practicum Meaningful? Preservice and Early-Career Teachers’ Experiences of Motivation, Participation, and Responsibility in an Extended University-School Partnership Model

Abstract

What makes extended practicum genuinely meaningful for future teachers? This presentation examines how motivation, professional participation, and responsibility are experienced across an extended university-school partnership model. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, the study explores the experiences of 17 pre-service and early-career teachers positioned at three points along the practicum-to-profession continuum: Year 3 practicum, Year 4 practicum, and early-career teaching. Codebook thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed distinct stage-positioned patterns. Year 3 participants emphasised recognised participation and opportunities to make meaningful contributions; Year 4 participants described greater, though still conditional, access to professional judgment and responsibility; and early-career teachers retrospectively valued practicum as preparation for professional life while recognising the intensified accountability of full-time teaching. Across these positions, autonomy was supported through consequential professional judgment, competence through visible evidence of effectiveness, and relatedness through professional inclusion and recognition. The findi

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