Perceived Interactional Demands and Professional Role Reconceptualisation in an International Teaching Practicum

ABSTRACT International teaching practicums (ITPs) provide pre‐service teachers (PSTs) with opportunities to encounter unfamiliar linguistic, interactional and pedagogical contexts. This qualitative retrospective study examined how 17 Indonesian PSTs interpreted their experiences during an ITP in the Philippines and reconsidered language‐related, pedagogical and professional assumptions. Data comprised semi‐structured interviews, reflective blogs and lesson plans, analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) was subsequently employed as an interpretive heuristic to examine variation in participants’ retrospective meaning‐making. Six interrelated themes showed how participants entered the practicum with idealised expectations of an ESL context, encountered perceived interactional and linguistic demands, questioned assumptions about English proficiency and language use, and adapted their pedagogical practices. The significance of these experiences varied: some accounts reflected confirmation or pragmatic pedagogical adjustment, whereas others suggested more substantive reconsideration of assumptions about effective English teaching and professional roles. Although participants broadly articulated understandings of English teaching that extended beyond content transmission, some explicitly described a changed or broadened professional perspective, conceptualised here as professional role reconceptualisation. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing pedagogical adjustment, broader professional understanding and explicit professional role reconsideration. The study contributes to international practicum research by showing how cross‐context teaching experiences can bring assumptions about proficiency, intelligibility, multilingual communication, classroom participation and professional roles into reflection.