SOCIOEMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES OF TEACH FOR MALAYSIA (TFM) FELLOWS DURING THEIR TEACHING INTERNSHIP

This article focused on the teaching internship experiences of fellows from the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) program. The authors examined changes in their perceptions and the effect of personal and related variables on the students‘ experiences. This research involved a cohort of 86 fellows, and the respondents were female (N = 77, 89.3%) and male (N = 9, 10.7 %). The ages of the respondents varied from 22 to 29 years old with an average of 25.7 years. Nearly half of the respondents carried out their teaching internship in a semi-urban secondary school (N =39, 45.3%), 34.9% (N = 30) in a rural secondary schools and 19.8% (N = 17) in a urban setting. Respondents‘ viewpoint was assessed using the Inventory of Experiences and Perceptions of the Teaching Practice (IEPTP; (Caires, Almeida, and Martins 2010), during their teaching internship period. Special attention was given to students‘ socio-emotional adjustment and its predictors. Based on some of the most significant findings of the present study, the authors reflect on some consequences for future intervention and research. Results show growing levels of adaptation and contentment, and the impact of gender, and school setting on their experiences. School resources and acceptance, supervisor‘s guidance and support, and the feeling of professional fulfillment were identified as basis factors of students‘ socioemotional adjustment. School resources and acceptance, supervisor‘s guidance and support, and the feeling of vocational fulfillment were identified as determinant factors of students‘ socio-emotional adjustment. Based on some of the most significant findings of the present study, the authors reflect on some implications for future intervention and research.