¡Buen camino! - research in didactics: teacher training paths and memories of the future

Abstract

This study aims to explore the formative journey of students enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Education (PDE) at the University of Aveiro, focusing on the process of knowledge construction in Didactics throughout their doctoral experience. It seeks to analyze how this knowledge influences the development of their research, considering the contexts in which they are immersed and the significance of this discipline in their academic and professional trajectories. Furthermore, the study aims to explore students’ perspectives on the contributions of their research to society and reflect on the potential future impacts of their work, highlighting the role of Didactics in this process. In order to achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology within an interpretative paradigm was employed, using content analysis towards the corpus. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews with seven PDE students in their second year. The findings confirm the centrality of the dimensions of Didactis in the formative paths of the participants, with frequent emphasis on Alarcão’s (2020a) triptych. Moreover, the “memories of the future” emerged as a space for projecting the students’ expectations, with significant emphasis on the political dimension, expressed in their aspirations for transformative societal interventions and the promotion of inclusive and critical education.