Comparative study of the evaluation of professional competencies by experienced and trainee Spanish primary teachers

Abstract

Abstract Taking as reference the proposals of the European Higher Education Area, the aim of this study is to identify the competencies which a wide sample of teachers in Spanish primary schools (6–12 age group) consider to be important for their professional performance and which they use in their everyday teaching, and to what extent their university training prepared them for their practising professional development. To do this, an ad hoc instrument was devised and applied to experienced practising teachers and to teacher trainees who were on teacher training placements during the last semester of their course. The results of the study show that initial teacher training should deal in depth with the competencies related to the organisation and management of teaching–learning, the use of new technologies in the primary classroom, the involvement of the families, education in values, social skills and skills for working in professional groups. Finally, proposals are made for training based on the articulation between theory and practice, to allow the professional competencies mentioned to be developed and used in practice, as well as encouraging close collaboration between teacher trainers and experienced practising teachers. Keywords: competenciesteacher trainingEuropean higher education area Acknowledgements This paper is partly the result of the project Las competencias profesionales de los maestros de Primaria de la CAM: percepciones y necesidades formativas en el marco del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (PR1/05‐13364) funded by the Complutense University, Madrid (UCM) and carried out by the Grupo de Investigación Interdisciplinar sobre Competencias Profesionales Docentes de la UCM, to which the authors belong.