Escola Básica e Secundária Padre Manuel Álvares
Madeira Islands, Portugal
INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION
IN PORTUGAL
Liseth Cristina Andrade Ferreira
Physics and Chemistry Teacher
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Teaching Career in Constant Evolution
Being a teacher of the 21st century:
 Work goes beyond the classroom;
 Must address issues relating to the emergence
of new citizenships and identities, technologies
and economies;
 Prepare students develop skills and knowledge
for the economy and for lifelong learning;
 Involves ongoing professional learning in the
form of further study, participation in professional
development programs, and engagement in
professional school-based learning communities.
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Teacher Training Program
1st year
2nd year
Academic studies
- Pedagogical education
- Didactics
- Classroom psychology
- School organization and administration
School-based teaching practice
(Internship)
A better adequacy of the program depends largely on increasing the quality of
teacher’s training pedagogical methods:
 Focus on general teaching practice (and in particular to the program
itself)
 Observation, analysis and accountability of trainee’s teaching
activities
 Evaluation of capabilities, attitudes and adequacy levels of intent
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Teacher Training Program - Importance
 Creates conditions for autonomy
- Development of skills for the practice
- Acquisition of experience in the field of didactics and
interpersonal relationships
- Review and critical evaluation of educational strategies
adopted
 Allows the construction of the professional identity of the future teacher
- Integration of theoretical knowledge and procedures
and its necessary approach to situations arising the
professional practice
 The personal and relational dimension, as well as the institutional and
organizational are appreciated
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Teacher Training Program - Disadvantages
 The relevance and quality of the course work provided by universities
(‘theory’) as distinct from the component of practical experience in
schools (‘practice’)
 The lack of preparedness by many trainees to handle the multiple and
diverse relationships in and out of a classroom
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Teacher Training Program - Disadvantages
 The trainees supervision is done more directly by school supervisors in
which, by the condition of everyday practice, tend to put more emphasis
on finding solutions to immediate problems than the theoretical reflection
on educational issues;
 The lack of institutional recognition for the training coordination tasks
developed by university professors, which are probably better prepared
to foster pedagogical reflection
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Macro-structural conditions of the school-based teaching training
(internship)
 Inadequacy of law regarding the human resources at schools
Ambiguity of the status of the trainee teacher
Inexistence of a single model for teachers education for all universities
 Need for a deeper reflection about “numeri clausi” of university courses
offering teacher education
No real association to the labor market with the number of vacancies
offered by universities for educational courses
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Macro-structural conditions of the school-based teaching training
(internship)
 Conditions for recruitment and respective profile of the local supervisor
and scientific coordinator
Local Supervisor
Scientific Coordinator
- Teacher from the same scientific
- PhD professors from Universities
- Nominated by university’s pedagogical
specialty
- Nominated by the Regional Education
Directorate
- Have an important role since none
professor accompanies the students
(future teachers) so closely or even have
as much as a direct intervention on their
training
council
- Their tasks are not clearly defined by law
and that they vary greatly from institution
to institution
- Attend trainee’s classes and observe their
pedagogical and scientific performance
closely
- Instruct of local supervisors
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Articulation between Universities and Schools
 Is important since “force” universities to relate with other levels of
education
Since before legally take the initial teacher’s education, relationships were
almost nonexistent
 The observation and evaluation of trainee’s activities “in loco” by
scientific coordinator provides a unique opportunity where some of the
deficiencies in the scientific and pedagogical skills previously acquired can
be shown
Opportunity to analyze, evaluate and reconstruct the university curriculum.
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Articulation between Universities and Schools
Schools are vital
communities of learning
and drivers of change that
universities should have
to take into
consideration!!
Initial Teacher Education in Portugal
Final Note…
 Teacher’s education must be in the position to prepare teachers to work in
emerging, and yet to be known contexts, and to select entrants most likely to
develop as much quality teachers with the ability to work effectively within the
rapidly changing societal and schooling context of teacher’s work
 The teacher training program provides conditions for trainees to practice in a
school the roles of teacher, being closely monitored by local supervisors and
scientific coordinators
 Due to the challenges of rapid transformation of society, new technologies,
new work places, new citizenships and the need for pedagogical and
curriculum innovation universities must have to work in partnerships with
schools and redefine the work of university and school-based teacher
education