Initial teacher training as a participatory practice: Constructing a polyphonic dictionary

Abstract

This paper presents an innovation project developed at the University of Cantabria (Spain) carried out with students of the Bachelor Degrees in Infant Education and Primary Education. The project developed with the students has consisted of elaborating, through a deliberative and participatory process, a critical dictionary of the concepts identified by them as nuclear of the subjects. Students, after a process of joint deliberation, have selected several terms that constitute the voices of our dictionary. These terms are defined by various non-normative informants and their visions are collected in the dictionary in a written version and in a digital object that synthesizes this definition. The objectives of this innovation have to do with the development of a more reflective and inclusive initial teacher training because it seeks to promote a greater agency of the students and recognizes the value of a knowledge built from a great diversity of voices and perspectives. The dictionary was born with an open vocation, as an initiative that aspires to be shared, replicated and multiplied. The article concludes with some considerations on what are the main qualities of this work as a tool for a more inclusive initial teacher training.