Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science

This research focused on the practicum experience in the Academia Class program. This article puts a spotlight on the emotional aspects, thoughts, feelings and perceptions concerning co-teaching in this unique program. The research is a mixed-methods study (qualitative and quantitative).The research population included 125 teachers, 51 (40.8%) practicing trainer teachers, 36 (28.8%) trainee-teachers, 18 (14.4%) kindergarten trainer teachers and 20 (16%) early childhood trainee-teachers.

The research questions were: “Is the trainee-teacher a second or a secondary teacher in the class? Do the trainer-teachers and trainee-teachers have a common motivation to adopt co-teaching and what is that motivation? How do the trainer-teachers and trainee-teachers describe their feelings and emotions within the framework of the practicum in the Academia Class program, especially with regard to co-teaching?

The main findings indicate that the trainer-teachers in schools saw the trainee-teachers as a second teacher in the classroom already from the first day of their practicum (3.86), while the trainee kindergarten teachers were not seen as second kindergarten teachers (2.86) by their trainers. This difference was found to be significant. In contrast it was found that in early childhood education, the trainee-teachers reported that they felt they were an integral part of the kindergarten staff in a more significant manner - synergetic teaching (3.94) than did the trainee-teachers in the schools (3.03). Moreover, it was found that there was a gap between the way in which the trainee-teachers perceived themselves as second teachers in co-teaching (3.27) and the way in which they were perceived by the trainer-teachers (3.45) and kindergarten teachers (3.78) The trainee-teachers saw themselves as equal (over-evaluation) to the teachers/kindergarten teachers, in contrast to the perceptions of the trainer-teachers in schools and kindergartens.

From the qualitative analyses, we found several categories that were identified as meaningful: interpersonal interaction, suitable training and preparation, high-quality teachers/student-teachers, motivation and emotions expressed because of this unique experience. Content analysis of the reflective consideration of the program participants to this question indicated that subjective interpersonal interactions (trainee-trainer in schools and in kindergartens) produced various feelings. These findings echoed and complemented the findings from the quantitative part of the research. The main conclusion from the findings is that the trainee-teachers were seen as secondary trainee-teachers and not as second teachers. In contrast, in the kindergartens although the trainee-teachers were not portrayed as second teachers, over the year they felt a sense of equality with the kindergarten teacher  and as  full participants  in the pedagogic work of the kindergarten teacher  received  a higher level of co-teaching.