Student teachers’ emotional encounters during teaching practicum in relation to micropolitical school context

Teaching practicum is an emotional journey encompassing power relations yet nonetheless, a unique opportunity for student-teachers to understand the reality of teaching and immerse themselves into school culture. This explorative study investigates student-teachers’ emotional encounters through their interactions with university supervisors, mentor teachers, and teacher colleagues in the placement schools. Data were derived from semi-structured interviews with 11 student-teachers, with the focus on collecting the critical incidents which had happened in their practicum. Findings of this study illustrate student-teachers encountered emotions towards multiple power relations. Further, student-teachers are situated in a micropolitical context where both formal and informal power relations exist in their interactions with others. Exploring micropolitical landscapes could identify the presence of multiple power relations in emotional encounters. Copyright © 2024 AERA.