Students for teachers`perceptions toward teaching practice in a competence-based formative context

Abstract

In a context of competency-based formative (MINERD, 2016), perceptions toward teaching practices, teacher identity (SERRANO; PONTES, 2016; ZABALZA, 2011), and strategies in favor of professional development (BOZU; IMBERNON, 2009; GONZÁLEZ CALVO et al., 2015); held by students for secondary school teachers in a Dominican higher education institution were examined. The study was exploratory and descriptive. The information was obtained through the focus group technique with nine (9) students and some university´s tutors and associate professors from the practice centers. For the analysis, ad-hoc qualitative analysis procedures were used, which allowed the construction of categories to answer the study questions. Students perceive that teaching practices constitute opportunities to get to know the educational system, help in the configuration of professional identity and compose an effective scenario for the appropriation of mediation strategies. It is suggested to improve the specialized and pedagogical education of the teachers who accompany them in these practices, to articulate the curricular coherence school university and to make better coordination between all the entities involved in education policies.