Author(s)

Xiaodong Zhu, Liwen Wang

Corresponding Author

Xiaodong Zhu

Abstract

In china, student teachers are the reserve army of rural teachers. Their professional identity not only affects their professional development but also affects the quality of rural education. In recent years, the state council and the ministry of education have introduced a series of policies to improve the student teachers’ professional identity and promote the professional development of rural teachers. Besides, some studies have revealed that internships have positive and negative impact on the student teachers’ professional identity. Thus, this study focuses on the changes in student teachers’ professional identity before and after the internships and analyzes the reasons for the changes. This study mainly used questionnaires and interviews to investigate the 56 student teachers of english majors in a normal university. Data from the questionnaires and interviews indicates that: (1) before the internships, student teachers’ professional identity was generally on the upper-middle level. Student teachers have a higher level of professional values but a lower level of confidence in language proficiency. (2) student teachers have improved their perceptions of professional identity after the internships. (3) there is no significant difference in student teachers’ professional identity in terms of gender, placement school area, and internship phase. (4) student teachers’ professional identity is affected by three factors: individual, placement school and normal university. Among them, the factor of placement school has the most significant effect.

Keywords

Student teachers, Internships, Teacher professional identity, Changes