Organización de la formación práctica de futuros docentes de educación primaria en Chile: estudio exploratorio desde las universidades

Abstract

Practical professional experience is a central component of initial teacher training. However, there is a dearth of evidence regarding the quantity, intensity, and quality of this practical component, in Chile. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper quantifies and analyses how this practical component is organized in 70% of the higher education institutions that train primary school teachers in Chile. The results show, first and foremost, that all universities include a practical component in their curriculum, but there are significant differences among universities in terms of the number of courses, hours, and organization of these experiences, and secondly, these differences are associated with institutional characteristics such as accreditation. This study's instruments and results will contribute to this field, through guiding improvement processes as well as the development of indicators that could be used to evaluate the intensity and quality of the practical component in teacher training programs, ultimately increasing the demands of accreditation processes.