Abstract
During the 1990s, an initial teacher education program reform is launched in order to promote and introduce a series of changes. Nevertheless, research in the field of education has evidenced that the gap between disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge, along with the distance between theory and practice continue to be an issue in teaching experience. The present article reports on the findings of a qualitative research that delved into the life experiencesIII III According to Wilhem Dilthey in “Introduction to the Human Sciences” the concept of “life experience” refers to a human and living experience that shapes and constitutes the individual’s criterion responsible for the understanding of what is perceived as real. Similarly, Hand-Georg Gadamer, in “Truth and Method” suggests that a life experience is what humans have learned and experienced, and which allows them to assimilate an experience differently from one individual to another, depending on their personality, previous experiences, reflective capacity, and relation to the community and society. SOUZA, María Cecilia de. Los conceptos estructurantes de la investigación cualitativa. Salud colectiva, Universidad Nacional de Lanús, Argentina, v. 6, n. 3, p. 251-261. 2010. of students while undertaking the bachelor of sciences and education program at different levels, and who are currently carrying out their professional teaching practice. Findings reveal that the contents of student teachers’ life experiences are mostly related to the need of control, a scarce questioning of the meaning of science teaching, and the search for professional appraisal. The latter have been emotionally experienced differently by students depending on how they have internalized and applied scientific knowledge in their practices. Thus, emotions range from high levels of anxiety in students of basic scientific knowledge and at a reflective stage within the teacher formation program, to a sense of adaption in those who have already had professional experience in the field of applied sciences; or sometimes they have experienced a mixture of both. The present study concludes that the practice based on scientific knowledge has a higher influence over the student teachers’ life experiences if compared to the impact of teacher formation, due to the fact that their experiences as science students and professionals are rooted to a traditional approach that have framed their thinking and performance.
Initial teacher formation program; Science teaching; Life experiences; Disciplinary knowledge; Pedagogical knowledge
Fuente: Diseño original de las autoras