Self-regulatory traits to the construction of teaching profile in teacher training

Abstract

The goal of this study is to identify self-regulatory traits that can contribute to the transformation of didactic and disciplinary knowledge, fundamental to professional development in the field of initial teacher training. The participants of the study were 231 future teachers on the Degrees in Preschool Education and Primary Education at the University of Girona (Spain), who responded to a questionnaire during the course of different subjects planned within a realistic/reflective approach to training. A mixed categorisation process has been used to obtain and analyse the data, in line with the constant comparison method of grounded theory, which has enabled us to identify twelve selfregulatory traits. The first five traits foster cognitive processes related to the deconstruction of implicit knowledge: prior experiences; beliefs about oneself; beliefs about the way the class functions; implicit disciplinary knowledge; and implicit didactic knowledge. The remaining seven traits promote processes related to the co-construction and reconstruction of professional knowledge: interaction with context I (at the school); interaction with context II (the university); interaction with oneself; interaction with peers; interaction with experts; interaction with theory; and critical professional knowledge. In contrast to some previous studies that highlight the difficulties involved in transforming future teachers’ implicit knowledge, our study concludes that it is possible to change such knowledge that can be an obstacle to the construction of one’s professional profile through the implementation of a realistic/reflective training model. As a result, we conclude that the self-regulatory traits obtained should be explicitly addressed during initial teacher training.