Students’ Strategies in Overcoming Challenges during the Internship Program
SITI ZAHARA RAHIMI FITRI, Student ID 22 301 040 60, Thesis Title: "STUDENTS' STRATEGIES IN OVERCOMING CHALLENGES DURING THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM." English Teaching Department, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, State Islamic University (UIN) Mahmud Yunus Batusangkar. The Teaching Internship Program (PPL) is a compulsory program that gives English student teachers the opportunity to gain direct teaching experience in schools. During the program, they apply the knowledge and teaching skills they have learned at university in real classroom situations. However, English student teachers may face various challenges during the internship, such as lesson preparation, instructional delivery, classroom management, assessment practices, student engagement, and adaptation to the school environment. Previous studies have discussed challenges experienced by student teachers during teaching internships. However, studies focusing on the strategies used by English student teachers to overcome these challenges during the Teaching Internship Program (PPL) at the junior high school level in Tanah Datar Regency are still limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the strategies used by English student teachers to overcome challenges during the Teaching Internship Program (PPL) at the junior high school level. This study used a descriptive qualitative design. The participants were three English student teachers from the English Teaching Department of UIN Mahmud Yunus Batusangkar who had completed their Teaching Internship Program (PPL) at junior high schools. The participants were selected using purposive sampling based on the research criteria. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews using an interview guide. The interviews were conducted in Indonesian based on the participants’ preferences. The data were analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s (1994) interactive model, which included data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Member checking was also used to ensure the trustworthiness of the data. The findings showed that the participants used three main types of strategies to overcome the challenges they experienced during the Teaching Internship Program (PPL), namely cognitive strategies, behavioral strategies, and emotional strategies. Cognitive strategies included understanding students’ characteristics, searching for teaching references, reflecting on teaching practices, and finding suitable solutions to teaching challenges. Behavioral strategies included preparing teaching materials and learning media, using games and quizzes, applying code-switching, communicating with mentor teachers, and encouraging students to participate in classroom activities. Emotional strategies included managing nervousness and anxiety, maintaining confidence, remaining patient, and adapting to the school environment. The findings also showed that the participants used these strategies to deal with challenges in lesson preparation, instructional delivery, classroom management, assessment practices, student engagement, and school adaptation.