Emotional Pathways to Exhaustion During the Teaching Practicum: A Longitudinal Study of Pre-Service Teachers

This longitudinal study examines how emotions (anxiety, enjoyment) and perceived competence develop during pre-service primary school teachers’ teaching practicum and how these processes relate to emotional exhaustion. Approximately 405 pre-service teachers were assessed across five measurement occasions spanning the pre-practicum period, practicum entry, early and later teaching phases, and practicum completion. Two parallel emotion-specific cross-lagged-panel models will be tested: an anxiety model and an enjoyment model. In each model, mathematics self-efficacy and the corresponding mathematics-related emotion at practicum entry predict teaching self-efficacy and the corresponding teaching emotion during the early teaching phase. Teaching self-efficacy and teaching emotion are then modeled prospectively and reciprocally across the practicum. Emotional exhaustion related to mathematics teacher education before the practicum is modeled as a predictor of teaching-related emotional exhaustion during the practicum, and earlier teaching-related exhaustion is controlled when predicting exhaustion at practicum completion. Perceived social support from mentors is included as a moderator of teaching self-efficacy, teaching emotion and final emotional exhaustion. The study aims to clarify emotional pathways through which domain-related experiences are carried into initial professional practice and become associated with pre-service teachers’ occupational well-being.