“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum

Introduction: Practicum is one of the most transformative stages of teacher education; for many preservice teachers, it signifies a crucial transition from theory to practice. However, this transition involves mixed emotions influencing teacher identity and professional growth. Based on the hypothes...

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Main Authors:	Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos, Luque-Agulló, Gloria
Format:	Digital
Language:	English
Published:	UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARIÑO 2026
Subjects:	Práctica pedagógica formación del personal docente enseñanza de idiomas sentimiento dibujo preservice teachers Pedagogical practice teacher training language teaching feeling drawing
Online Access:	https://revistas.uan.edu.co/index.php/papeles/article/view/2460
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author	Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos Luque-Agulló, Gloria Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos
author_facet	Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos Luque-Agulló, Gloria Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos
author_sort	Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos
collection	OJS
description	Introduction: Practicum is one of the most transformative stages of teacher education; for many preservice teachers, it signifies a crucial transition from theory to practice. However, this transition involves mixed emotions influencing teacher identity and professional growth. Based on the hypothesis that emotions significantly affect teachers’ developmental trajectories, this narrative inquiry study examined the emotional triggers experienced by preservice English teachers during their practicum. Methodology: Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, visual narratives, and journal entries over five months involving a sample of five participants. Data was analyzed using thematic coding. The study employed narrative analysis to scrutinize the documented emotional experiences. Results and Discussion: The findings demonstrated that the sources of emotions, such as happiness, pride, excitement, and gratitude, were instructional convergence, favorable student feedback, learning, engagement, participation, and behavior. Conversely, emotions like frustration, sadness, anxiety, fear, and stress were triggered by feelings of unpreparedness, disruptive student behavior, methodology to teach children, classroom management, instructional divergence, limited classroom interaction, and special needs students. Conclusions: Research implications underscore the importance of emotional support in teacher training programs, suggesting that understanding and addressing emotional triggers can enhance teacher preparation and resilience. This study highlights the influence of emotional experiences on shaping teachers' professional identities and pedagogical beliefs.
format	Digital
id	revistas.uan.edu.co-article-2460
institution	Revista PAPELES
language	English
publishDate	2026
publisher	UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARIÑO
record_format	ojs
spelling	revistas.uan.edu.co-article-24602026-08-24T15:10:22Z “There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum “Había días en los que no podía continuar”: la montaña rusa emocional del prácticum Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos Luque-Agulló, Gloria Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos Práctica pedagógica formación del personal docente enseñanza de idiomas sentimiento dibujo preservice teachers Pedagogical practice teacher training language teaching feeling drawing Introduction: Practicum is one of the most transformative stages of teacher education; for many preservice teachers, it signifies a crucial transition from theory to practice. However, this transition involves mixed emotions influencing teacher identity and professional growth. Based on the hypothesis that emotions significantly affect teachers’ developmental trajectories, this narrative inquiry study examined the emotional triggers experienced by preservice English teachers during their practicum. Methodology: Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, visual narratives, and journal entries over five months involving a sample of five participants. Data was analyzed using thematic coding. The study employed narrative analysis to scrutinize the documented emotional experiences. Results and Discussion: The findings demonstrated that the sources of emotions, such as happiness, pride, excitement, and gratitude, were instructional convergence, favorable student feedback, learning, engagement, participation, and behavior. Conversely, emotions like frustration, sadness, anxiety, fear, and stress were triggered by feelings of unpreparedness, disruptive student behavior, methodology to teach children, classroom management, instructional divergence, limited classroom interaction, and special needs students. Conclusions: Research implications underscore the importance of emotional support in teacher training programs, suggesting that understanding and addressing emotional triggers can enhance teacher preparation and resilience. This study highlights the influence of emotional experiences on shaping teachers' professional identities and pedagogical beliefs. Introducción: La práctica preprofesional es una etapa transformadora de la formación docente, pues marca para muchos futuros profesores el paso decisivo de la teoría a la práctica. No obstante, esta transición suele estar acompañada de emociones diversas que influyen en la identidad profesional y el desarrollo docente. Este estudio de indagación narrativa analizó los desencadenantes emocionales experimentados por cinco docentes de inglés en formación durante cinco meses de prácticum. Metodología: Los datos se recopilaron mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas, narrativas visuales y diarios reflexivos, y se examinaron con codificación temática y análisis narrativo. Resultados y discusión: Los resultados muestran que emociones positivas como felicidad, orgullo, entusiasmo y gratitud se relacionaron con la convergencia pedagógica, la retroalimentación favorable de los estudiantes, el aprendizaje, el compromiso, la participación y el buen comportamiento. En cambio, emociones negativas como frustración, tristeza, ansiedad, miedo y estrés surgieron por la falta de preparación, la conducta disruptiva, la enseñanza a niños, el manejo del aula, la divergencia pedagógica, la escasa interacción y la atención a estudiantes con necesidades educativas especiales. Conclusiones: Las implicaciones de la investigación subrayan la importancia del apoyo emocional en los programas de formación docente, sugiriendo que comprender y abordar los detonantes emocionales puede fortalecer la preparación y la resiliencia de los docentes. Este estudio destaca la influencia de las experiencias emocionales en la construcción de las identidades profesionales y las creencias pedagógicas de los docentes. UNIVERSIDAD ANTONIO NARIÑO 2026-08-24 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf https://revistas.uan.edu.co/index.php/papeles/article/view/2460 10.54104/papeles.v18n36.2460 Papeles; Vol. 18 No. 36 (2026): Special Issue: Educational Innovation for the Enhancement of Well-being and Socio-emotional Competencies in Teaching-Learning Processes Papeles; Vol. 18 Núm. 36 (2026): Número especial: Innovación educativa para la mejora del bienestar y las competencias socioemocionales en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje Papeles; v. 18 n. 36 (2026): Edição especial Inovação educacional para a melhoria do bem-estar e das competências socioemocionais nos processos de ensino-aprendizagem 2346-0911 0123-0670 10.54104/papeles.v18n36 en https://revistas.uan.edu.co/index.php/papeles/article/view/2460/1860 Derechos de autor 2026 Jardel Coutinho dos Santos, Gloria Luque-Agulló https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0
spellingShingle	Práctica pedagógica formación del personal docente enseñanza de idiomas sentimiento dibujo preservice teachers Pedagogical practice teacher training language teaching feeling drawing Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos Luque-Agulló, Gloria Santos, Jardel Coutinho dos “There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title	“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title_alt	“Había días en los que no podía continuar”: la montaña rusa emocional del prácticum
title_full	“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title_fullStr	“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title_full_unstemmed	“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title_short	“There were Days when I Couldn’t Go On”: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Practicum
title_sort	there were days when i couldn t go on the emotional roller coaster of the practicum
topic	Práctica pedagógica formación del personal docente enseñanza de idiomas sentimiento dibujo preservice teachers Pedagogical practice teacher training language teaching feeling drawing
topic_facet	Práctica pedagógica formación del personal docente enseñanza de idiomas sentimiento dibujo preservice teachers Pedagogical practice teacher training language teaching feeling drawing
url	https://revistas.uan.edu.co/index.php/papeles/article/view/2460
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