E-coaching for Pre-service Teacher Internship: Thais and Flemish' Perceptions

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research is to investigate the perceptions of Flemish and Thai pre-service teachers and university supervisors on e-coaching during their internship programs. Data was obtained by conducting interviews and with in-depth semi-structured questions with N=40 participants. The instrument was based on an integrated model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The interviews were audio-recorded and encrypted in NVivo 11. The results revealed that both Flemish and Thai participants perceived the value of e-coaching. The subjective norms of the participants show that Thai students and supervisors influence each other to use e-coaching. For Flemish, the supervisors have an essential role in influencing students. Both Thai and Flemish perceived the use of e-coaching as a comfortable mode of communication. The results explained by the theoretical framework of Planned Behavior and Technology Acceptance (TPB -TAM) variables also show some differences between the two contexts. The Thai participants are positive about the use of e-coaching because of its ease of use, and have intention to increase the use in the future; however, Flemish participants are skeptical towards this future. In general, Thai participants believe that using Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools can enrich their coaching process, while Flemish participants feel uncertain. Nevertheless, almost all participants agree that e-coaching is crucial for an effective coaching but should always be complemented to a face-to-face coaching.