Student Practicum Stories

Student Practicum Stories: Journeys of Resilience and Growth

Much more than just a course requirement, professional practicum (PP) is an important step student-teachers take towards becoming competent educators as they develop professional skills, knowledge and attributes in authentic learning environments.

Stepping out of lecture halls and into real classrooms across diverse learning settings can be daunting and, at times, confusing. Yet, with a growth mindset and determination to turn challenges into learning opportunities, our students demonstrated resilience and experienced growth and fulfilment.

Students’ practicum stories are also marked by their deep gratitude for their practicum schools and mentors, whose encouragement and guidance helped them thrive in the schools’ nurturing environments.

Read on to learn more about the students’ transformative journeys as they blossom into passionate teaching professionals, equipped to make a positive impact in the classroom and beyond.

Practicum Journey: Creating an Inclusive Classroom

What happens when students feel seen in the classroom? During her practicum, Sandra discovered the power of recognising each learner through personalised learning. By asking students about their interests and incorporating them into lessons, she noticed a rise in participation and enthusiasm. She used students’ names and pictures in worksheets, included their favourite characters in presentations and art activities, and created opportunities for them to discuss topics they cared about while remaining focused on lesson aims. These thoughtful adjustments encouraged stronger engagement from students and even led them to request similar activities.

Supporting learner diversity was a key aspect of Sandra’s practicum. She believed that while some adaptation is necessary, it is especially empowering to teach students how to communicate their own needs and regulate their emotions. This approach shaped how she supported a child with ADHD who would shout when frustrated, argue with classmates and disrupt lessons. Sandra introduced practical self-regulation strategies and phrases the student could use, such as “Please slow down; I’m catching up.” She also reinforced clear boundaries with reminders like “I keep my hands to myself.” By validating the child’s feelings while modelling more appropriate responses, she helped them build emotional awareness and interact with others more constructively.

Sandra also found great joy in cultivating a love of reading in her students. At the start of her practicum, students told her that they didn’t like reading and found English boring. However, by sharing her love of books and promoting a reading culture, Sandra saw a shift. Students started asking for book recommendations, discussing stories she had read aloud, bringing books from home and even sharing their own writing. For Sandra, this was learning at its finest – students were choosing to learn without being asked.

Sandra was deeply grateful for her mentor, who offered her invaluable guidance and support, from helping her understand students on a deeper level to navigating behind-the-scenes lesson planning. One key lesson Sandra took away was that the teacher sets the tone of the classroom: when a teacher leads with love, care and clear boundaries, students are more likely to respond in the same spirit.

Practicum Journey: Bringing Lessons to Life

Donald’s practicum helped him move from understanding teaching in theory to embracing a more student-centred approach in practice. Although he had often heard at HKU that English lessons should be communicative, it was during practicum, with his mentor’s guidance, that he fully understood what that meant. He came to see that communicative teaching is not just about choosing an engaging activity, but about fostering meaningful interaction that gives students a genuine purpose to communicate.

This insight transformed the way Donald designed lessons. He learned from his mentors that lessons with only teacher-student interaction could easily make students passive, whereas incorporating student-student interaction could make even a grammar lesson communicative. In one activity, after introducing the meaning and structure of non-defining relative clauses, he asked students to create taboo sentences using the target structure and read them to groupmates, who then identified the person, place or object being described. Since each student held different information, the task created an authentic information gap and encouraged purposeful communication.

Another major area of growth was learning to rely less on PowerPoint slides and teacher explanation. Early in the practicum, Donald recognised that his lessons sometimes gave students too few opportunities to think actively. To improve, he asked his mentor to demonstrate a lesson. Watching her skilfully use questioning to elicit ideas and guide students to discover grammatical structures for themselves became a turning point. From this, Donald learned that it is the teacher, not the PowerPoint, who brings a lesson to life.

Donald also discovered the value of asking questions. Although he initially felt frustrated by feedback that some of his lessons weren’t engaging enough, regular discussions with his mentors helped him rethink and improve lesson design.

Equally meaningful were the relationships Donald built with his students. He was deeply touched when they wrote notes and cards for him and when, on the final day of his practicum, they presented him with a thank-you banner. These moments reinforced the idea that teaching is ultimately about building meaningful relationships—earning students’ trust and making a positive difference in their lives.