Supervised teaching practicum in initial teacher education for primary school teachers: process and empirical evidence

Abstract

This article describes the organisation and implementation of the “Observation and Teaching Practicum” curricular unit delivered to students on ISPI’s teacher education degree programme. It reports findings from a study conducted at the Instituto Superior Politécnico Independente (Lubango) that addresses the need to enhance the scientific pedagogical quality of the Bachelor’s programme in Teacher Education. The data indicate that students encounter difficulties in undertaking their school-based practicum, due not only to the conditions under which it takes place but also to essential competences that are not sufficiently developed during their initial preparation. A predominantly qualitative methodology was used, supplemented by quantitative techniques for statistical data analysis, with the aim of deepening our understanding of the problem and triangulating the data. The study concluded that the pedagogical practice enabled students to experience the integration of theory and practice in a contextualized manner a foundation for teacher training yet limited pedagogical skills and the frequent use of the traditional model persist, highlighting the need to rethink this process and continue to refine it.