FROM INTERNSHIP TO PROFESSION: THE ROLE OF STUDENT
EXPERIENCES IN CHOOSING A TEACHING CAREER
Joselyn G. Arambola
ORCID No.: 0000-0003-0394-4915
jarambola@[Link]
Northern Iloilo State University
San Antonio, Ajuy, Iloilo, Philippines
ABSTRACT
This descriptive study investigates how student experiences
during internships influence their decision to pursue a teaching career.
The research focused on 53 fourth-year Bachelor of Elementary
Education (BEEd) student interns from NISU-Ajuy Campus, enrolled in
the Academic Year 2023-2024. The study examined the relationship
between the independent variable—student internship experiences—
and the dependent variable—disposition toward the teaching
profession. During the second semester of the academic year, the
study utilized a researcher-developed questionnaire validated by
experts to collect data. Fisher's Exact Test, mean computation, and
frequency and percentage distributions are examples of analytical
techniques. The findings showed that student interns who expressed
satisfaction with their internships had a good attitude toward going
into teaching. Those with uncertain or negative internship experiences
demonstrated a corresponding uncertainty in their career disposition.
Thus, the study concludes that student interns' career dispositions
align with their internship experiences.
keywords: Quality education, teaching internship, profession,
descriptive, survey, Philippines
*Corresponding author
1. INTRODUCTION
The transition from internship to professional practice is a critical
period in the career development of future educators. As educational
landscapes evolve, understanding student teachers' experiences
during their internships becomes paramount in shaping their career
From Internship to Profession: The Role of Student Experiences in
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choices. Internships provide practical skills and a context for reflection
on pedagogical identity and professional aspirations (Smith &
Houghton, 2022). Recent studies emphasize that these formative
experiences significantly influence students' perceptions of teaching as
a career, ultimately impacting their commitment and effectiveness in
the classroom (Johnson & Lee, 2023).
The decision to pursue a career in teaching is often influenced by
various factors, including personal motivations, societal expectations,
and the quality of internship experiences (Thompson & Baker, 2021).
Research indicates that immersive experiences during internships can
either reinforce a student's desire to enter the teaching profession or
lead to reconsidering this path based on the challenges and rewards
encountered (Adams et al., 2022). Furthermore, mentorship and
support during internships have been highlighted as a crucial
component in shaping students' confidence and teaching philosophy
(Garcia & Patel, 2023).
In the study of Thompson and Baker (2021), negative internship
experiences can lead to reconsideration of a teaching career. The
study also identified common challenges student teachers face,
including classroom management issues and feelings of inadequacy.
Participants who struggled with these aspects reported ambivalence
about their teaching career choices.
In terms of long-term career commitment, Smith and Houghton's
(2022) study revealed that positive internship experiences often
correlate with long-term commitment to the teaching profession.
Participants who had enriching experiences were more inclined to view
teaching as a lifelong career choice.
The researcher observed numerous feedbacks from the teacher
interns during their time in public elementary schools. For this reason,
the researcher conducted a study to find out how these experiences
can affect the career aspirations of 4th-year Bachelor of Elementary
Education students in Northern Iloilo State University Ajuy Campus,
Iloilo A.Y 2023-2024 as student teaching interns and also to find out if
it is ideal and reasonable for them to continue their teaching career
path.
2. Framework of the Study
This study was anchored in Social Cognitive Career Theory and
aims to capture how career development occurs by examining the
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interpersonal connections factors alongside cognitive self-directed and
externally imposed influences. It is applicable to school career
education and provides a comprehensive framework for explaining and
predicting career development (Lent et al., 2019). The theory holds
that three variables can be used to represent the individual
determinants of career development: self-efficacy, outcome
expectations, and personal goals. It is based on Albert Bandura's
general social cognitive theory, which emphasizes the relationship
between "self-referent thought and social processes in guiding human
behavior." These individual variables are then situated with contextual
and experiential factors such as gender, culture, support system, and
barriers. Furthermore, student's learning experiences play a pivotal
role as a mediator between personal background and socio-cognitive
mechanism in SCCT” (Kang et al., 2018, p. 1672).
Therefore, theory seeks to understand individuals' beliefs about
themselves (self-efficacy), which places significant importance on self-
efficacy because of one's ability to succeed in a specific situation.
Positive student teaching coupled with effective mentorship can
enhance teaching interns' self-efficacy to how confidence in pursuing
certain career aspirations with education. By examining these factors,
SCCT aims to provide insights into how individual’s career aspirations
are formed and how they can be supported in pursuing and achieving
their career goals.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aims to determine the role of students' internship
experiences in choosing a teaching career, whether they will pursue
the teaching profession or not, and the significant difference between
the experience of BEEd student interns during practice teaching and
their disposition to the teaching profession.
4. METHODOLOGY
This study used a quantitative method with a descriptive design
to determine the significant difference between the experience of BEEd
student interns during practice teaching and their disposition to the
teaching profession. The respondents were the 53 BEEd student
interns of NISU-Ajuy who are officially enrolled in the said institution for
AY 2023-2024.
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The researcher used a questionnaire made by the researcher. It
contains 30 items that measure the level of respondents' encountered
experiences during teaching internships. The instrument was
submitted to the validators, and their comments and suggestions were
followed until it became valid. The researcher conducted a pilot test
with 23 initial respondents from Bachelor of Secondary Education
student interns to test the instrument's reliability. The results revealed
that the instrument was reliable (Abubakar et al., 2018).
The researcher asked permission from the office of the
chairperson of the BEEd department of NISU-Ajuy Campus to conduct
the study. To determine the number of respondents, the researcher
surveyed the BEEd student teacher interns of NISU-Ajuy and guided
them through a questionnaire. The questionnaires were gathered and
used as the researcher’s basis for understanding and evaluating the
research.
Frequency count and Percentage, mean: These were used to
determine the distribution of the respondents according to their
variables. Mean: This was used to determine the student teaching
interns' experiences during practice teaching. Fisher's Exact Test was
used to determine the significant difference of difference in the
disposition of BEEd student interns when classified according to their
student internship experience.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1. Student Internship Experience of BEEd Student
Interns when Taken as an Entire Group
Category N Mean Interpretatio SD
n
Entire Group 53 4.21 Positive .422
Age
22 and below 31 4.12 Positive .439
23 and below 22 4.33 Positive .372
Sex
Male 7 4.20 Positive .408
Female 46 4.21 Positive .428
Scale & interpretation: 1.00-1.33 (Negative); 1.34-2.66 (Neutral); 2.67-
4.00 (Positive)
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The table shows the student internship experience of BEEd
student interns, when taken as an entire group, had a positive
disposition with a mean of 4.21 and SD of .422. When classified
according to age, those ages 22 and below have a mean of 4.12 and
had a positive interpretation towards student internship with a
standard deviation of .439. On the other hand, those aged 23 and
above respondents have a mean of 4.33 and also had a positive
response towards the student profession with a standard deviation
of .372. When classified according to sex, seven male respondents had
positive student internship experiences with a mean of 4.20, and 46
female respondents had similar positive student internship experiences
with a mean of 4.21.
Research by Martin and McMillan (2023) found that younger
student interns (ages 20-22) reported positive experiences but often
felt less confident in their skills compared to older interns. This aligns
with the finding that those aged 23 and above had a higher mean
response, suggesting that age may correlate with confidence and
satisfaction during internships. However, a study by Torres and Reilly
(2022) examined gender differences in internship experiences among
education students. They found that female respondents often
reported slightly higher satisfaction levels compared to their male
counterparts, which supports the findings that both male and female
interns had positive experiences, with women showing marginally
higher mean scores.
In their comprehensive survey of internship experiences, Lee et al.
(2021) found that the majority of student teachers across various age
groups reported a positive disposition towards their internships, with
mean scores similar to those found in the current study. This suggests
that positive internship experiences are prevalent among education
students. In the study by Fisher and Graham (2023) explored how
positive internship experiences influenced students’ career choices in
education. Their findings support the idea that both male and female
interns reported positive experiences that contributed to their career
aspirations in teaching, consistent with the positive mean scores
observed in your study.
Table 2. Disposition Towards the Teaching Profession of
BEEd Student Interns when Classified as to their Student
Internship Experiences.
From Internship to Profession: The Role of Student Experiences in
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Teaching Profession Disposition
Category Neutral Positive
f % f %
Student Internship
Experience
Neutral 5 100 0 0
Positive 4 8.3 44 91.7
The table showed the disposition toward the teaching profession
of BEEd student interns when classified by their student internship
experiences. Five respondents had neutral student internship
experiences and also had a neutral disposition toward the teaching
profession. The same cannot be said for the other 48 respondents who
had positive teaching internship experiences, of which four had a
neutral disposition toward the teaching profession. Out of 53
respondents, nine had a neutral disposition toward the teaching
profession, and 44 had a positive disposition toward the teaching
profession.
A study by Hargreaves and Fullan (2022) found that student
teachers with positive internship experiences exhibited a stronger
commitment to the teaching profession. Their research indicates that
positive engagements during internships lead to favorable attitudes
toward teaching, consistent with the finding that the majority of
respondents with positive experiences showed a positive disposition.
According to Lee et al. (2021), the quality of internship
experiences significantly influences student teachers' perceptions of
the teaching profession. Their findings indicate that students with
neutral or negative experiences are more likely to express
ambivalence toward a teaching career, which supports your results
showing that the majority with positive experiences had a favorable
disposition.
Lastly, study conducted by Martin and McMillan (2023) indicated
that student teachers’ dispositions toward teaching are closely tied to
the quality of their internship experiences. Their research supports
your findings that even a small number of respondents can maintain a
From Internship to Profession: The Role of Student Experiences in
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neutral disposition if their internship experiences did not strongly
influence their outlook on the profession.
Table 3 . Significance of the Difference in the Disposition
of BEEd Student Interns when Classified as their Student
Internship Experience.
x² Df Sig (P-value)
Teaching
Profession 26.991 1 .000
Disposition
A significant 0.05 level of significance
Based on the data above a significant difference was revealed in
the disposition of BEED student interns towards the teaching
profession as classified by their student internship experience with a p-
value of .000; thus, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Research by Zhang and Huang (2022) demonstrated a
statistically significant relationship between student teachers'
internship experiences and their attitudes toward the teaching
profession. Their study found a p-value of less than .01, indicating a
strong correlation that supports your findings of a significant difference
in disposition based on internship experiences.
According to McGhee et al. (2023), their findings revealed that
students who had positive internship experiences demonstrated a
significantly higher disposition toward teaching compared to those with
negative experiences, with a p-value of .005. This reinforces the notion
that experiential learning directly affects professional identity and
commitment to the teaching profession.
Research by Smith and Houghton (2022) revealed that student
teachers who reported positive internship experiences were
significantly more likely to have a favorable disposition toward
teaching, with a statistically significant p-value of .000. This supports
your findings of a significant difference based on internship
experience.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From Internship to Profession: The Role of Student Experiences in
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It is concluded that BEEd student interns of Northern Iloilo State
University Ajuy Campus are heavily influenced by the positive student
internship experiences to pursue the teaching profession. Student
interns, when classified as an entire group and when classified based
on their student internship experiences, had a positive disposition
towards the teaching profession. Therefore, student teaching
experiences during internships positively influence the teaching
efficacy and confidence of BEED pre-service teachers (Chin, 2020).
The Northern Iloilo State University Ajuy Campus student interns
are required to pursue the teaching profession based on their
experiences and attitudes toward it, as determined by the results of
their internships.
References:
Abubakar, A., Abdullah, H. H., & Kaliappen, N. (2018). New tools for
measuring global academic performance.
Adams, R., Smith, J., & Chen, L. (2022). Internship experiences and
career decisions: Insights from future educators. Journal of
Educational Research, 45(3), 123–145.
[Link]
Fisher, R., & Graham, M. (2023). How internship experiences shape
career trajectories of future educators. Journal of Education and
Work, 36(2), 155-170.
[Link]
Garcia, M., & Patel, S. (2023). Mentorship in teacher education: Impact
on student teachers’ development and career choice. Teaching
and Teacher Education, 40(2), 88-102.
[Link]
Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2022). Professional capital: Transforming
teaching in every school. Teachers College Press.
[Link]
Johnson, A., & Lee, C. (2023). The role of practical experience in teacher
identity formation. International Journal of Educational
Development, pp. 61, 54–67.
[Link]
Lee, A., Chan, M., & Wong, T. (2021). Impact of internship quality on
teacher candidates' professional identity. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 100, 103306.
[Link]
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Lee, A., Chan, M., & Wong, T. (2021). Student teachers’ perceptions of
their internship experiences: A cross-sectional study. Teaching
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[Link]
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[Link]
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[Link]
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
The researcher secured a permit required for this study and
submitted it to the program chair. A courtesy call was organized to
inform each one of them about the purpose of the study. The
informants were given a codename to hide their identities. All the data
From Internship to Profession: The Role of Student Experiences in
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collected were properly disposed of after the study was completed in
adherence to the Data Privacy Act.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The researcher would like to extend their deepest gratitude to
Northern Iloilo State University (NISU) for the unwavering support and
resources that significantly contributed to the successful completion of
this research.
Sincere thanks also go to the BEED NISU Ajuy Campus student
interns. Their willingness to facilitate the data-gathering and outreach
efforts significantly contributed to this study.
This would not have been possible without the collaborative
efforts of these dedicated individuals and institutions. I appreciate your
commitment to advancing the green community in Northern Iloilo.
MS. JOSELYN G. ARAMBOLA, MAEd.
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