Make visible the Between initial university training and the working life of new teachers in schools. Reflections on teacher identity and learning

Abstract

Understanding that teacher identity figures into various contexts (academic, labor, cultural,  social, economic, etc.), this article presents a reflection focusing on the link between initial university training and the insertion into working life of various teachers in their first years  teaching in schools. With this proposal in mind, reflections and arguments resulting from interviews and group discussions with teachers from various autonomous communities were  collected. The role of certain traditions and the profiles of those who influence initial training are some of the ideas that arose. Other issues included the      consequences of the distinction between theory (related to initial training) and practice (dominant in the labor context), various conflicts and complications between what is taught in university and what is learned as a teacher in a  school and other issues that influence how teachers establish themselves and perform their duties. All of this was carried out with the intention of creating a dialogue on emerging identities and  reflecting on the necessity to face them in order to improve the training that influences the development of self -reflective and post-critical biases within the current educational framework.

The text also presents in part the results of the project “Research on teacher identities and learning of new teachers” (Identidoc), developed within the research group Esbrinaat the University of Barcelona.