Belonging, Being and Becoming: Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers’ Sense of Belonging During Professional Placement

Professional placement is a central component of early childhood pre-service teachers’ professional learning and identity formation; however, it is also a context in which a sense of belonging is unevenly experienced. This study explores how early childhood pre-service teachers experience, construct, and perceive belonging during professional placements, with particular attention to identity, prior experiences, institutional contexts, mentorship, perceptions of support and structural inequalities. Drawing on a qualitative multi-case study design, the study utilises student reflections, field notes, and semi-structured interviews to examine how belonging is constructed, disrupted, or withheld within professional placement settings. The data were thematically analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. The findings demonstrate that belonging is relational, dynamic, and contextually constructed through everyday interactions in placement settings. Pre-service teachers experienced a sense of belonging when they felt valued, welcomed, included, trusted, and meaningfully engaged in practice. In contrast, exclusionary practices and inconsistent relational support undermined their confidence and professional identity formation. Mentorship emerged as a critical factor in professional belonging, being and becoming. Affirming and scaffolded mentoring fosters confidence, agency, teacher efficacy, and a sustained commitment to the profession. Conversely, deficit-oriented mentoring constrained participation and professional growth by limiting opportunities for engagement, feedback, and identity development. Professional identity formation was thus relational, shaped through participation and engagement within practice contexts. Institutional inequalities further mediated access to belonging, although strengths-based mentoring approaches helped to mitigate these challenges. This study adapts the Early Years Learning Framework concepts of “belonging, being, and becoming” as a conceptual framework for understanding pre-service teacher’s professional placement experiences. It positions professional placement as a relational arena for pre-service teachers’ identity formation and professional growth. It offers a lens for advancing more equitable and inclusive initial teacher education (ITE) practices in Australia and beyond.