The meaning of teaching practice, in the voice of its protagonists

Abstract

This article stems from the education professionals’ pressing need to bring up their experiences and knowledge at the discussion table in order to reshape their pedagogical thinking. In an attempt for the empirical sphere to inform what has been said thus far about the teaching practice, this document seeks to collect the educators’ voices, thereby contributing new knowledge to the ??teaching field. Thus, the proposed objectives of this research are: to know the aspects that make up the essence and the tasks involved in the teaching occupation; to interpret the meanings that educators give to their pedagogical performance; and to understand their construction of their own pedagogical knowledge in relation to their work. The study followed the type of qualitative methodology known as case study, which allowed for a detailed, in-depth examination of 43 student teachers from different generations who took the subject of "Teaching Practice Analysis" as part of a master's degree program in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. One of the results found showed that the subjects involved know that their praxis involves their way of thinking, reasoning and valuing the world and that it is also highly influenced by multiple interactions. The research concluded that critical and reflective analysis of teachers’ actions requires both a collective dialogue and an interpretation of their actions.