Overcoming self-doubt as a pre-service teacher with Trinity Internships
Interning as a Physics teacher at Trinity in 2024 is not somewhere Candy ever thought she would be right now.
First, there was the fact that in Years 7–10 in her own schooling, she was not the biggest fan of Physics. In fact, she couldn’t wait to drop the subject when the time came. But, just before Year 11, she watched a documentary about travelling to space and she decided to give the subject another chance.
“I kept the subject and I got a really lovely Physics teacher,” she reflects. “I realised I actually loved it and from there I thought, maybe I should go and spread the love as a teacher myself.”
Candy set off on her new trajectory, but teaching didn’t come as naturally as she would have liked. Getting up in front of students to teach is just part of the everyday routine for teachers, but it’s not for the faint of heart and it takes practice.
“This time last year, I was completely terrified by the idea of having to one day be in a room alone with children and have to be in a room alone with children and have to be responsible for them,” she says.
It was this fear that pushed her to apply for the Trinity Internship Program. She knew that she needed to build her confidence and to do that, she needed more practical experience – more than what her university placement could offer her.
The best part? Her confidence has skyrocketed while on the Trinity Internship Program, to the point where she’s now taking on casual teaching jobs, much earlier than she ever thought she would be comfortable with. Candy is able to look back on that fear she had and know that she’s overcome it and it comes down to being able to put in more hours.
“Through the Internship Program I get to spend more time in a classroom environment, more time practising teaching lessons, planning lessons, managing a classroom … and it’s so good that I get to do it under supervision, on top of the practice I get at placements. The more practice you get, the better, for a job like teaching.”
In particular, she says it was her supervisors and mentors, who provided her with constructive feedback and “a lot” of encouragement, that really helped to build that confidence. She also credits the longevity of the program to giving her better insights to the reality of life as a teacher.
“Because we’re here one day a week for the whole year, instead of just our days a week in a term or nine weeks in a term, you get to be here at the beginning of the year, where you see how the teachers settle the classes into new routines, especially the Year 7s, helping them transition from primary school to high school, and you don’t get to see that on a placement that is usually in Term 3 or Term 4.
“And, because I’m here the whole year, I get to watch teachers write assessments, conduct them, mark them, provide feedback … I get to be involved in that. It’s just a lot more insight than you’ll get in only a four-week placement.”
To any pre-service teachers who are considering a Trinity Internship, Candy says that it’s worth pushing through any self doubt that might be present.
“Just do it!” She says. “You don’t know what will happen and you’ll get so much out of it – it’s 100% worth it.”
