Experiencing difficulty in internships as a catalyst for improvement in pre-service teachers’ reflective writing skills

Internships are perceived by pre-service teachers as significant activities in their training and, for some, as a test of endurance, given the difficult realities of the field. To support trainees in improving practical performance, internships often involve writing reflective texts, such as a self-evaluation report. In this study, we investigated the links between trainees' performance and their writing of a report concerning that performance. We analysed 100 reports, written by 20 pre-service primary school teachers. We used a mixed-methods approach to examine changes in the text itself and in the quality of their reflexivity over 3 years of training, for each practical performance-related profile. Our study suggests that practical performance influences the quality of reflective writing in the self-evaluation report. Results revealed that students improve their writing when they experience stronger internship difficulties, which require them to provide justifications, evaluate effects of their practice, and highlight strengths to build on.