Physical Education Teachers in Portugal: Between Initial Training and Professional Practice

Abstract

In this study, we have sought to analyse the representations that teachers from the various schools of Physical Education in Portugal have of the relationship between their initial training and the teaching practice in terms of its adequacy, limitations of training and expectations. Based on a qualitative methodology, the study focused on a group of fifteen teachers with initial training performed inthe most distinguished Portuguese institutions in the 20th century: the National Institute of Physical Education, the Higher Schools of Physical Education, the Colleges of Physical Education of Lisbon and Porto and the Faculties of Sports Sciences and Physical Education. We have concluded that, regardless of their school, teachers feel that their initial training, despite being limited in some very specific areas, has prepared them adequately for practice, and has, in general, met their expectations.