Initial Teachers’ Education Based on the Practicum: The Reflective Academy as a Fundamental Praxis for Teachers’ Education

Abstract

The quality of Education constitutes a commitment and a duty to the school system. This demands special attention to the initial teacher Training of our teachers. Currently, public policies in Chile challenge universities regarding various requirements for teacher training. Aware of this situation, the universities have installed strategies to improve the training processes of their future teachers, establishing formal mechanisms that articulate their curriculum with training based on Practicum. This article presents the results of qualitative research, which analyzes the process of the Practicum of the pedagogy careers of a private university in Chile, describing in turn, the critical nodes of the formative processes that characterize it. The results of the study reveal the need to rethink the Practicum in initial teacher training through a model that represents and responds to the demands of the 21st-century society, together with the valorization of the reflective act within the Academy that nurtures and strengthens initial teacher training.