The future teachers and the action-research: from practices to conceptions

Abstract

The initial formation of teachers and educators is a complex learning process of specific knowledge associated with the profession, as well as of construction of the future teachers’ identity. This includes supervision dynamics, of notorious essentiality, since they allow the interaction of students in educational contexts, the dialogue with other professionals already in action and, also, the approach to investigation processes. The general purpose of this work is to analyze the conceptions built by masters’ students (future teachers) about action-research and to interpret the ways through which it is accomplished, in their internship, in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education. The research was structured as a multi-case study (including 3 Portuguese universities), having been considered, at random, 15 internship reports submitted between 2013 and 2019, produced by students of the Master in Pre-School Education and Teaching of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education. Three complementary elements can be highlighted as the main results. First, action-research dynamics were, indeed, present in the scope of initial formation of teachers and, as such, in the formative experience of future teachers. However, the reports written on the supervisory experience of those students show a difficulty in seeing themselves as (potentially) knowledge builder agents. Lastly, the processes of action-research carried out were marked by certain individuality (or isolation) of the investigators and, moreover, by a rudimentary analytical and critical action (sometimes, almost replaced by the mere description of the performed pedagogical tasks).