Training scenarios and professional competencies in initial teacher training

Abstract

In a time of change such as the one we are experiencing, universities must take into account the new ways of teaching and learning, so that future professionals can acquire the skills needed to function in a constantly changing labor market. Technical skills fall short when it comes to training future teachers, since they require other skills, both generic and transversal, which project them more effectively onto their own work settings.

By means of our research we provide information about the perceived skills that the students who completed the course “Practicum I” acquire both at the Faculty and at the training centers. This gives us the necessary information to act on training programs, advancing possible solutions or changes in those aspects that can arise as priorities: content, skills, structure, duration, learning methodologies, etc.

Another aspect analyzed is the contribution of the different subjects of the curriculum to skills training of future teachers. Knowning how theoretical teaching is perceived and its contribution to actual performance in practice are regarded as fundamental pieces of information for competent professionals. This contribution is part of broader investigation that includes all students of “Practicum I”, “Practicum II” and “Practicum III” courses belonging to the Degrees in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education over three academic years. In this paper we put forward the results concerning “Practicum I” in those consecutive years. We were able able to observe that, when speaking of the skills acquired in both scenarios (the Faculty and the training centers), there are significant differences depending on the course of reference and the degree.