Initial teacher education for social justice and teaching work in urban schools: An (im)pertinent reflection

Authors

  • Fátima Pereira Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação Porto University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v59i2.55605

Keywords:

social-educational justice, initial teacher education, urban school

Abstract

This paper presents conceptions and reflections on initial teacher education for social justice based on a study that sought to identify the discourses produced in the initial education of teachers of the first and second cycles of basic education on the concept of social justice and to understand the effects of those discourses on the educational practices of teachers beginning their careers in urban schools. The study was developed in Portugal and was based on an analysis of programs offered in the curriculum for the bachelor’s degree in elementary education and the master’s degree in teaching of the first cycle of basic education (CEB) (first four years of schooling) and the second CEB (fifth and sixth school grades) and on biographical interviews with teachers of the first and second CEB who trained in the last five years and a teacher educator. The results show the inadequacy of initial teacher education in relation to the educational mandates that some of the urban schools apply to teachers’ work and that the ideology of inclusion characterizes the discourses analysed. The results also reveal that the ethical dimension of the profession is not yet seen as integrating the core curriculum, being more dependent on human sensitivity, on teachers’ initial education and on educators’ professional ideology.

 

Cet article présente des conceptions et des réflexions sur la formation initiale des enseignants pour la justice sociale à partir d’une étude visant à identifier les discours produits lors de cette formation. Nous avons examiné les premier et deuxième cycles de la formation de base portant sur le concept de la justice sociale pour comprendre les effets de ces discours sur les pratiques pédagogiques des enseignants qui débutent leur carrière dans des écoles en milieu urbain. Développée au Portugal, l’étude est basée, d’une part, sur une analyse des programmes offerts dans le cadre du baccalauréat en éducation au primaire et de la maitrise en éducation du premier cycle (quatre premières années de scolarité) et du deuxième cycle (5e et 6e années) et, d’autre part, sur des entrevues biographiques auprès d’enseignants formés dans les cinq dernières années et auprès d’un formateur. Les résultats démontrent l’insuffisance de la formation initiale des enseignants par rapport aux mandats éducatifs de certaines écoles en milieu urbain. L’analyse des discours révèle que l’idéologie de l’inclusion les caractérise. Finalement, les conclusions indiquent également que l’intégration du curriculum de base n’est toujours pas accomplie dans l’éthique de la profession, celle-ci s’appuyant davantage sur la sensibilité humaine, la formation initiale des enseignants et l’idéologie professionnelle des enseignants.

 

Author Biography

Fátima Pereira, Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação Porto University

Fátima Pereira is Assistant Professor (lecturer) at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences from Porto University, member of the Ethical Commission, and Vice-Coordinator for Continuing Education Service, from the same faculty. She is also member from the Scientific Board of the Centre of Research and Intervention in Education. In recent decades she has conducted research and published more than hundred works on professions, training, and school education, both nationally and internationally, and has coordinated various master courses in the field of Teacher Education and School Education. Since 1993, she is a member of research teams and networks, national and international, whose object is school education, mainly teacher education. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Fátima Pereira, Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE), Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal

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Published

2014-04-15

How to Cite

Pereira, F. (2014). Initial teacher education for social justice and teaching work in urban schools: An (im)pertinent reflection. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 59(2), 162–180. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v59i2.55605

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ARTICLES