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Introduction
A pedagogical internship is the ultimate and most effective form of training teachers for professional activity. It is an important component of the system of equipping a student teacher with professional abilities and skills. This includes the ability to assess students’ development levels and features of the functioning and formation of mental processes and various types of activity, the ability to consider results of diagnostics in educational activity and plan it, and the ability to create an educational and development-inducing environment in an educational institution, provide for the comprehensive and harmonious development of students, organize the educational process in various educational institutions, and carry out professional activities in a particular selected specialty, etc.
During pedagogical internships, future specialists have the opportunity to make sense of pedagogical phenomena, facts, patterns, and principles, as well as master professional skills and gain experience in practical work. During pedagogical internships students first begin to identify with the social role of a teacher and develop skills for independent work at a school (Askhabalieva, 2013).
A pedagogical internship is continuous and consistent in the process of future specialists obtaining the necessary sufficient amount of practical knowledge and skills in accordance with the various qualification levels. Internships not only test the theoretical and practical preparation of a student for independent work but also create ample opportunities providing for the creative potential of a future teacher.
The relevance of solving the problem of the development of future primary school teachers’ creative potential during pedagogical internships is due to the fact that educational institutions at the present stage have a particularly acute need for creative individuals who are aware of their creative subjectivity and implement it in professional activities.
Several contradictions regarding the problem under study are objectively present in pedagogical theory and practice:
between the abilities of pedagogical internships to contribute to the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers and the insufficient realization of these opportunities;
between the need for the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers and the insufficient development of the theoretical and methodological foundations for ensuring this process as part of pedagogical internships. The leading perspectives of researchers on the essence of pedagogical internships are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 - The essence of pedagogical internship.
| Source | Essence of pedagogical internship |
|---|---|
| Melekesov (2011) | a way to study the education and upbringing process through interns’ direct involvement in it |
| Oganesian (2004) | a link between a student’s theoretical training and their future independent professional activity at a school |
| Orland-Barak (2002) | a component of the psychological and pedagogical training of student teachers, in the process of which they develop the necessary abilities and skills |
| Ochirov (2019) | a means for the development of the cognitive and creative activity of a future teacher |
| Haberfellner & Fenzl (2017) | a component of the education and upbringing process that contributes to the development of a creative approach to teaching in a future specialist and determines the level of their professional competence and the degree of a pedagogical orientation |
| Shishkina (2013). | a form of professional training in higher education that is based on professional knowledge and a certain theoretical basis and provides for practical comprehension of the patterns and principles of professional activity and the mastery of the means of its organization |
| Akhmetzianova (2011) | a component of professional training of student teachers aimed at the consolidation of the subject, psychological, pedagogical, and methodological knowledge, the skills and abilities necessary for future professional activities in schools obtained by a student, as well as their implementation in a specially created setting, and a means for creative development and self-development of future teachers, which promotes the development of their professionally important qualities and readiness for innovative pedagogical activities |
Thus, from the definitions provided, it follows that the practical training of future primary school teachers presents a mandatory component of the educational process at pedagogical universities providing professional training and professional development of teaching staff.
Researchers argue that the main objective of a pedagogical internship is to develop students’ abilities to creatively implement the scientific and theoretical knowledge and practical skills obtained in the study of pedagogical disciplines in their pedagogical activity, assist students’ mastery of the modern forms and methods of organizing the educational and upbringing process in educational organizations, and foster their interest in pedagogical work.
During pedagogical internships, students face an inexhaustible variety of pedagogical situations and receive a unique opportunity to set and solve individual pedagogical problems, which contributes to the development of future specialists’ creativity (Cremin & Chappell, 2021).
Pedagogical internships are a critical factor in the development of students’ creativity since the entire scope of professional pedagogical activities of a teacher can be characterized as “the art of solving pedagogical problems”. To set a pedagogical task correctly, a teacher needs to know their students well and constantly study them, as well as be able to determine the specific goals of their activity (Zanina, 2016).
The study hypothesis is that undergoing a pedagogical internship with an independent practical resolution of professional-pedagogical tasks contributes to the formation and development of creative potential in a future primary school teacher.
The objectives of the study are:
to conduct a theoretical analysis of the essence of pedagogical internship,
to carry out an experimental study of the influence of a pedagogical internship on the development of creative potential in future primary school teachers.
The article is composed of the introduction, literature review, research methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.
Materials and methods
Study designTo achieve the established study goal, a qualitative and quantitative study of the impact of pedagogical internships on the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers was carried out. A complex of theoretical and empirical research methods deployed includes:
theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization) - to study literary sources related to the research problem;
diagnostic methods - to assess the main criteria of the development of creative potential in future primary school teachers during pedagogical internships;
numerical methods (methods of mathematical statistics).
As the main criteria of the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers during a pedagogical internship, we determined the following:
the motivational criterion described through the indicators of the motives for choosing the profession of a primary school teacher, orientation on creative pedagogical activity, interest in the processes of the creative pedagogical activity, and strong cognitive motives;
the cognitive criterion indicated by knowledge of the patterns and principles of organizing a creative educational process and a creative educational environment in schools and universities;
the creative criterion, the indicators of which are considered to be the tendency to search for new algorithms in creative pedagogical activities and the level of creativity of a teacher’s personality;
the operational criterion defined by the indicator of the effective use of the obtained experience in new pedagogical conditions;
the reflexive criterion, the indicators of which are determined to be the self-assessment of one’s professional training and mastery of the methods and technologies for professional self-improvement of one’s pedagogical skills.
Analysis of the results of studying the essence of the creative potential in future primary school teachers and the determined criteria of this integral quality of a teacher’s personality shape the definition of the development levels of the phenomenon: innovative (high), pronounced (medium), and latent (low).
The experimental study involved 182 4th-year students of a pedagogical university, future primary school teachers.
Research instruments and procedure
The determined criteria, indicators, and levels of creative potential allow conducting experimental work aimed at assessing the level of development of this quality in future primary school teachers.
The experimental study took place in the period from March 1, 2021, to May 1, 2021, and involved diagnostics of the level of development of students’ creative potential before and after them undergoing a pedagogical internship, as well as during the internship (5 weeks of the 8th semester).
The assessment of the creative potential development level is organized in stages on the total sample of respondents, each development stage is diagnosed based on the aforementioned criteria and their respective indicators (Table 2). The reliability and validity of the deployed methods (except for the questionnaires of our own development) are supported by the corresponding studies (Voronin, 1995; Pakulina & Ketko, 2010; Tunik, 2013; Berezhnova, 2018).
Table 2 Stages of diagnostics and diagnostic methods used in the pedagogical experiment.
| Content of the criterion (indicators) | Diagnostic instruments |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 - diagnostics of the motivational criterion | |
| Motives for the choice of the profession of a preschool education specialist | Questionnaire “Learning Motivation of Higher Education Students” (Pakulina & Ketko, 2010) |
| Orientation on creative pedagogical activity | Questionnaire assessing the orientation of future primary school teachers on creative teaching activities (original development) |
| Interest in the processes of creative pedagogical activity | Questionnaire determining the level of personal interest in creativity in pedagogical activities (original development) |
| Stage 2 - diagnostics of the cognitive criterion | |
| Knowledge of the patterns and principles of organizing a creative educational process and a creative educational environment in schools and universities | Comprehensive questionnaire “Conceptual foundations of creative pedagogical activity” (original development) |
| Stage 3 - diagnostics of the creative criterion | |
| Tendency to search for new algorithms in creative pedagogical activities | E. Torrance’s “Finish the Drawing” method (Voronin, 1995) |
| The level of creativity of a teacher’s personality | Tunik’s (2013) “Personal Creativity Diagnostics” method |
| Stage 4 - diagnostics of the operational criterion | |
| Effective use of the obtained experience in new pedagogical conditions | Analysis of a student’s documentation, observation of their practical pedagogical activities during the pedagogical internship |
| Stage 5 - diagnostics of the reflexive criterion | |
| Self-assessment of one’s pedagogical training | The “Diagnostics of Self-Development and Professional-Pedagogical Activity Level” by L. Berezhnova (2018) |
| Mastery of the methods and technologies for professional self-improvement of one’s pedagogical skills | Questionnaire “My professional self-improvement” (original development) |
After the pedagogical internship, during which the students were solving various pedagogical tasks, the aggregate sample of future primary school teachers was retested using the same diagnostic stages and methods.
Statistical data analysis
The reliability of differences in the level of development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers during pedagogical internship is tested using Pearson’s homogeneity test (χ2).
In the course of quantitative calculations, the absolute number (persons) and % of future primary school teachers who reached a certain level of creative potential development before and after teaching practice were measured.
The χ2 criterion was used at the final stage of the experiment (after teaching practice) to compare the empirical distributions of diagnostic results by levels of development of creative potential (in %) and made it possible to conclude whether different values of the trait occur with the same frequency in the indicated empirical distributions.
The calculation of χ2 was carried out using the SPSS Statistics software product.
Results and discussion
The overall results of diagnostics of the creative potential of future primary school teachers before the pedagogical internship are presented in the table of pedagogical experiment results by the motivational, cognitive, creative, operational, and reflexive components and their indicators (Table 3).
Table 3 - Results of the diagnostics of creative potential in future primary school teachers before undergoing a pedagogical internship (N = 182).
| Component | Level | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| innovative | pronounced | latent | |
| abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | |
| motivational | 42/23.1 | 94/51.6 | 46/25.3 |
| cognitive | 32/17.6 | 88/48.4 | 62/34.0 |
| creative | 40/22.0 | 94/51.6 | 48/26.4 |
| operational | 32/17.6 | 90/49.5 | 60/32.9 |
| reflexive | 34/18.7 | 88/48.4 | 60/32.9 |
| Overall level of creative potential | 39/19.8 | 90/49.5 | 56/30.7 |
The data in Table 3 indicate that most students demonstrate the pronounced (49.5%) and latent (30.7%) overall level of creative potential development. We believe that these results support the need for introducing pedagogical tasks in the process of undergoing pedagogical internships.
As a result of the pedagogical internship, the implementation of pedagogical tasks in the course of a pedagogical internship is found to have a positive impact on the level of creative potential development of future primary school teachers (Table 4).
Table 4 - Summarized results of the diagnostics of creative potential in future primary school teachers before and after undergoing a pedagogical internship (N = 182).
| Components | Level | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| innovative | pronounced | latent | ||||
| before | after | before | after | before | after | |
| abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | abs.(people)/% | |
| motivational | 42/23.1 | 62/34.1 | 94/51.6 | 104/57.1 | 46/25.3 | 16/8.8 |
| cognitive | 32/17.6 | 58/31.9 | 88/48.4 | 100/54.9 | 62/34.0 | 24/13.2 |
| creative | 40/22.0 | 64/35.2 | 94/51.6 | 104/57.1 | 48/26.4 | 14/7.7 |
| operational | 32/17.6 | 56/30.8 | 90/49.5 | 102/56.0 | 60/32.9 | 24/13.2 |
| reflexive | 34/18.7 | 60/33.0 | 88/48.4 | 98/53.8 | 60/32.9 | 24/13.2 |
| Overall level of creative potential | 36/19.8 | 60/33.0 | 90/49.5 | 102/56.0 | 56/30.7 | 20/11.0 |
Analysis of the results provided in Table 4 allows concluding that the changes in the students’ distribution by the levels of creative potential development are qualitatively different. An improved dynamic is observed in all indicators of creative potential and high scores are found in the creative (an increase in the number of students at the innovative level by 13.2% and the number of students at the pronounced level by 5.5%) and operational (an increase in the number of students at the innovative level by 13.2% and at the pronounced level by 5.5%) components.
These results indicate the effectiveness of the influence of the pedagogical internship on the development of creative potential in future primary school teachers.
Comparing the data from Table 4, we detect the following difference in the percentage distribution of the student teachers by the levels of creative potential development as a result of the pedagogical internship: the number of respondents at the innovative level of the motivational component has increased by 11%, the number of students at the pronounced level is 5.5% higher, and the latent level is 16.5% less represented. A comparison of the distribution by the levels of the cognitive component shows a 14.3% higher prevalence of the innovative level, a rise in the pronounced level by 6.5%, and a decline in the latent level by 20.8%; regarding the levels of development of the creative component, the innovative level is 13.2% more common, the pronounced level is 5.5% more represented, and the latent level is detected 18.7% less often. The innovative level of the operational component of creative potential shows a 13.2% rise, the pronounced level - a 6.5% increase, and the latent level - a 19.7% drop. Examining the reflexive component of creative potential, there is a 14.3% increase in the number of students at the innovative level, a 5.4% higher prevalence of the pronounced level, and a 19.7% decline in the latent level. In general, across all levels of development of the components of future primary school teachers’ creative potential, the most prevalent is the pronounced level with 53.8-57.1%. The proportion of respondents at the high level of development of the creative potential components ranges between 30.8% and 35.2%. The most developed are the indicators of the motivational and creative components. The described trends are explained by the students’ increasingly conscious attitude toward the development of their professionally important qualities and growing interest in and the ability for creative pedagogical activity as a result of undergoing the pedagogical internship.
The reliability of the differences in the indicators of the level of creative potential development in future primary school teachers before and after the pedagogical internship is tested using Pearson’s homogeneity criterion (χ2).
As a result of the diagnostics, the indicators of the creative potential of future primary school teachers are found to be significantly better after the pedagogical internship than before undergoing it (χ2 = 11.902 > χ2cr = 5.991). There is a significant reduction in the number of students at the latent level of creative potential and a rise in the number of students at the innovative and pronounced levels (χ2 = 6.119 > χ2cr = 5.991).
Thus, the analysis confirms that the creative potential of future primary school teachers shows quantitative and qualitative changes.
We believe that the main reason behind the existing problems in the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers is the predominance of extrinsic motives for the choice of the profession. Moreover, a significant number of students lose interest in pedagogical activity during their studies. This fact is due to the methods, instruments, and forms used in professional training at higher education institutions, as well as the lack of practice. These factors predetermine the reproductive style of thinking and low cognitive motivation. Moreover, students do not show a willingness to develop their abilities and improve their personalities due to a lack of confidence in their own abilities, low level of curiosity, and the lack of persistence in pursuing the goal.
Analysis of the results collected before the pedagogical internship indicates that the deficit of creativity in the pedagogical activity of teachers and students is primarily associated with the lack of skills and abilities to organize and carry out the creative pedagogical activity; the students have not yet developed a clear personal and creative concept of professional and pedagogical activity of a future specialist; some students are not sufficiently oriented on the development of creative self-realization in pedagogical activity; moreover, there appears to be a deficit in the development of the creative environment and the involvement of students in research and search activity.
Summarizing the results of the ascertaining stage of the experiment, we have reasons to state that in most respondents, orientation on creative pedagogical activity is situational and unstable and accompanied by the overall lack of knowledge of the mechanisms and principles of the creative process, the external attractiveness of the concept of creativity without an awareness of its underlying content.
The creation of appropriate pedagogical conditions was achieved through solving pedagogical problems as part of the pedagogical internship, which ensured the development of the creative potential of future specialists, their readiness for creative pedagogical activities, and the resolution of the identified problems.
The results obtained after the students’ pedagogical internship demonstrate that a pedagogical internship with an independent practical resolution of professional-pedagogical tasks is an effective means of developing the creative potential of future primary school teachers, which is confirmed, in particular, by statistical analysis.
Meanwhile, the analysis of scientific literature indicates that solving pedagogical problems (Sekerin et al., 2018; Vinichenko et al., 2020) as part of a pedagogical internship serves as a basis for the development of the creative potential of future primary school teachers.
Therefore, in the discussion of the study results, we will focus more closely on the process of solving pedagogical tasks in the course of a pedagogical internship.
Despite the fact that when undergoing a pedagogical internship, a 4th-year student-intern has the opportunity to organize the educational and upbringing process independently, this requires them to be able to set pedagogical tasks for themselves and solve them successfully. The resolution of a pedagogical task is determined by the level of pedagogical skills and the professionalism of a teacher, and defines them as a creative person (Kartushina, 2020; Poddubnaya et al., 2021). When a student encounters a problem situation, whatever its nature may be, they are forced to make it the subject of analysis: identify the causes of the situation, determine its nature, and attempt to find the optimal way of achieving their goals. They have to, metaphorically speaking, rise above the situation or, in other words, reflexively reconstruct the situation and themselves in it. Such analysis results in setting the task that needs to be solved in the conditions of the given situation. Hence, when analyzing the problem situation, a student relates the goal to the existing conditions, that is, formulates a specific task for themselves (Orland-Barak, 2002; Abdulaeva et al., 2017; Matraeva et al., 2020).
Creativity begins with the very formulation of the task. Communicating with children, organizing their academic work, social activities, and entertainment, the internship student in direct interaction with them sees their attitude to study, classmates, and school and studies the psychological features of their students. These observations become the basis for formulating pedagogical tasks.
Once a pedagogical task is set, there begins the stage of designing the technique of pedagogical impact, that is, the student plans future practical work with children. At this point, they have to think creatively, search for new, unconventional solutions, account for all the circumstances of the activity and age capabilities and needs of the children as fully as possible. In such conditions, a future specialist experiments and actively uses modern scientific data. A student carefully thinks their plan through, provides for the smallest details of practical activity, and knowledge, intuition, and attention to the lives of children help to make the right pedagogical decision.
The pedagogical tasks a student solves in the course of a pedagogical internship at a school can be distinguished into three major groups: strategic, tactical, and operational (Shishkina, 2013). Strategic tasks are the most complex, their resolution has to ensure substantial changes in students, their attitude to life, work, and each other. For this purpose, a student-intern under the supervision of a teacher designs an entire system of educational interventions. Solving a strategic task often requires quite a long time.
A strategic task is concretized through a system of tactical tasks the consecutive resolution of which should ensure reaching the established strategic purpose. Hence, when working on developing conscious discipline, a teacher-administrator of the internship can set the following tactical tasks for a student-intern: to accustom the younger students to conscientiously performing educational tasks and public assignments; to provide such an organization of educational work that would not allow for violations of discipline; to enhance the role of student self-government in this work, etc. To resolve these tasks, a teacher and their intern can plan to hold conversations with the class and individual students, organize discussions and parents’ meetings, coordinate the work of all teachers in the class in this direction, provide opportunities for cooperation with the labor collective of the institution, etc.
The transition from planning work to performing it is the transition from tactical tasks to operational (situational) tasks, i.e. the tasks that need to be solved immediately with the active participation of students themselves.
The formulation of an operational task and the development of a pedagogical intervention technique have to be carried out very promptly and without appropriate preparation (Oganesian, 2004). The lack of pedagogical technique skills makes it impossible to establish contact with children, convince them of the necessity of certain actions, and understand their true thoughts and moods. This is the main reason for the difficulties and failures that beginner teachers overcome in direct interaction with children.
Once such interaction has occurred, there begins the final stage of solving a pedagogical task - analyzing the achieved results. In summarizing the work done, it is necessary to determine how accurately the goals were set, whether the pedagogical task was correctly designed, what succeeded or failed to be implemented and why. The analysis always ends with the formulation of new pedagogical tasks.
Conclusions
The conducted pedagogical experiment supports the effectiveness of a pedagogical internship in the process of development of creative potential in future primary school teachers.
Thus, the study confirms the hypothesis that undergoing a pedagogical internship with an independent practical resolution of professional-pedagogical tasks contributes to the formation and development of the creative potential of a future primary school teacher.
Further research prospects lie in the development and implementation of technology for creative self-development of future primary school teachers in the process of practical professional activity in schools or higher education institutions.
A limitation of the study lies in the limitation of the respondent sample to the last year of undergraduate education.
