Primary Teachers Initial Training: Entry Requirements, Curricula and Teaching Profiles

Abstract

Teacher training in the 1st cycle of Basic Education has undergone several adjustments, which are properly legislated, resulting from the curriculum reorganization according to the Bologna process. Teacher training is divided in two cycles – bachelor and master’s degree – and has been developed both by polytechnic institutes and universities in various ways. Considering that the quality of teaching performance, which to some extent is a result of teacher training, is of capital importance to the students’ academic achievement, both the admission requirements for teacher training programs and their curricula have been getting the attention of the Portuguese society. In this paper we present an analysis of those two topics and we expect it can contribute to a substantiated debate that is necessary.