Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptions of Practicum Assessment Across Knowledge, Skills, and Values: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study

Abstract

This study presented a rigorous qualitative protocol to examine pre-service teachers’ conceptions of assessment in the teaching practicum, treating knowledge, skills, and values (K–S–V) as interdependent domains of professional formation. Situated within a constructivist paradigm, it used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to illuminate how pre-service teachers understood assessment purposes, processes, criteria, and consequences during authentic classroom placements. The design employed purposive sampling of final-semester participants who had recently completed extended placements across multiple teacher-education institutions. Data were generated through 60–90-minute focus-group discussions and were analyzed using reflexive thematic procedures.

The literature indicated that practicum assessment was experienced as both developmental and judgmental, and that the perceived alignment of formative and summative mechanisms was pivotal for learning, identity work, and the transition to teaching. Evidence further suggested that conceptions were often implicit and fragmented, weakening assessment literacy and obscuring how K–S–V were recognized in practice. Accordingly, the study (a) made explicit how pre-service teachers conceptualized K–S–V in practicum assessment; (b) identified tensions between intended purposes and experienced practices; and (c) informed a coherent assessment framework that integrated dialogic feedback with credible summative decisions. Contributions included a richer account of assessment literacy from the learner-teacher perspective and design implications for practicums that made evidence of knowledge, enactment of skills, and embodiment of professional values visible, dialogic, and fair.