Experiential Learning in School Internship: Reflection of Prospective Teachers

Abstract

The study aims to explore the reflections of prospective teachers in using experiential learning approach in their classroom during internship. Qualitative research method was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants and semi-structured one-on-one face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect the data. The data was analyzed in percentage and summarized in five themes (knowledge, understanding towards its use, perceived learning experiences, perceived teaching effectiveness, and usability & infrastructure) related to the reflections of prospective teachers. The findings of the study revealed that prospective teachers have proper knowledge and understanding of experiential learning approach in their teaching-learning process during the internship. Further, the findings also revealed that prospective teachers have effective learning and teaching experiences where prospective Mathematics, Science, and English teachers feel easy to incorporate experiential learning in the teaching-learning process than prospective Social Science teachers. Additionally, prospective teachers have also highlighted the issues and challenges while incorporating experiential learning approach in the classrooms like lack of proper infrastructure facilities, insufficient basic resources, time limit, lack of institutional support, etc, Furthermore, the conclusion and outline for further educational research is also discussed.