Demandas sociales y formación inicial del profesorado: Un callejón sin salida?

Abstract

In recent times we have witnessed a steady increase in the social demands made to schools and teachers, who are asked to take on new duties and roles. Faced with this situation, the lack of social recognition of teachers stands out, which seems to be a major contradiction. In this context, this article presents -as part of a broader research project- the analysis of the perceptions that teachers and students of the Teacher's Degree in Primary Education from the University of Santiago de Compostela have about the current profession and the duties that are demanded from teachers today. These are part of the results of a qualitative case study in which indepth interviews and discussion group have been mainly used as data collection techniques. For its analysis a deductive-inductive categorization has been used, carried out with the support of the Atlas.ti. The groups consulted perceive that teachers and schools currently take on duties that were traditionally in the hands of families, as well as others that are a result of education dismissal at social level, together with new emerging demands that some institution has to assume. These are tasks that in many cases are seen as unreasonable, considering that not all the responsibilities for educating future citizens can fall on the school. In contrast, teachers denounce the lack of social recognition of the profession. They consider that at present it is not being thought highly enough by society, not aware perhaps of the crucial relevance of teaching. Teachers and students suggest that this devaluation of the profession may be due to the low profile of students that enter this study cycle, to the high number of students in it, and the to profitable preparation they receive.