“Stepping into the Spotlight”: Lived Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers in Their Final Demonstration Teaching

This study investigates the lived experiences of pre-service teachers during their final demonstration teaching, emphasizing the challenges they encountered, coping mechanisms employed, and how these shaped their professional development. Anchored in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, this qualitative research utilized a phenomenological design to capture the experiential realities of pre-service teachers. Data were collected through a face-to-face focus group discussion with purposefully selected participants from Marikina Polytechnic College, Philippines, who had recently completed their final demonstration teaching. Thematic analysis was employed to interpret the narratives. Findings revealed multiple domains of challenge including planning constraints, classroom engagement readiness, instructional planning and design, technological and logistical hurdles, and psychological and emotional struggles. In response, pre-service teachers applied coping mechanisms such as professional support and preparation, professional adaptability, emotional resilience, peer and contextual support, and reflective learning and development. These experiences fostered growth in confidence in handling classes, instructional competence and planning, classroom leadership and control, professional presence and communication, learning through feedback and reflection, professional flexibility and adaptability, readiness for the teaching profession, and career orientation and decision-making. The results affirm that final demonstration teaching is not merely evaluative but an essential experiential platform where theory and practice intersect, facilitating the development of professional identity and readiness for the teaching profession. The study calls for more structured support, mentorship, and reflective integration in teacher education programs. This extend to educational institutions and policy makers in fostering sustainable, responsive, and reflective practices in teacher training.