Narrative inquiry and construction of teacher identities: Pedagogical reflection as a teacher training tool

Abstract

Today's digital society poses multiple challenges for education professionals. In this scenario, training becomes a transcendental element to critically analyze reality and take actions to improve it. Starting from this objective, we approach a research experience developed in the initial training of teachers, aimed at promoting the development of an attitude of epistemological vigilance that facilitates the understanding of educational transformations, to design optimizing processes of practice. A total of 38 students of the Master's Degree of the University of Valencia participate in the experience along with two teachers, within the framework of the General Didactics subject. The subject is structured around the study and analysis of texts and the holding of seminars and gatherings that allow us to rethink the educational task and the role of teachers in today's school, making visible the challenges of teaching in times of crisis. Based on narrative inquiry, students construct stories that become a tool for educational research, understanding and learning. Through critical discourse analysis we explore the conceptions and visions of the participating students, influencing the construction of teaching identities and reflective knowledge.