Internship experience and vocational exploration and commitment of pre-service early childhood education teachers from low-resource areas in China

Abstract

Encouraging students in early childhood education programs to commit to teaching in low-resource areas remains a significant challenge. This study investigates the complex relationship between internship experience and vocational exploration and commitment (VEC) among pre-service early childhood education teachers in China’s low-resource regions. Through Structural Equation Modeling of data from 635 pre-service teachers at a Western China vocational college, we investigated the serial mediating effects of child-centered beliefs and teaching self-efficacy. Results revealed a counterintuitive negative relationship between internship experience and VEC. Specifically, students who had completed internships demonstrated significantly lower levels of VEC compared to those without internship experience. This relationship was partially mediated by teaching self-efficacy and serially mediated by both teaching self-efficacy and child-centered beliefs. These findings challenge assumptions about internship effectiveness and highlight the critical need for a nuanced understanding of pre-service teacher professional development. Our results suggest that merely providing internship experiences may be insufficient to enhance vocational commitment in educational settings.