Initial Teachers’ Training in Portugal After the Bologna Process: A Look from Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives

Abstract

In Portugal, due to the Bologna process, in the first decade of the 21st century, some institutions that provided initial teacher training have returned to the two-cycle system and others continued to provide a more generic training. In both cases, the conditions to carry out teaching internships on real environments have been an obstacle to improve theory and practice relationship. This paper intends to study representations on such initial teacher training model. School boards, teachers and students from a Higher Education Institution that provides initial teacher training, were inquired. The data show some differences between students and teachers concerning the initial teachers’ training model. Students give importance to a stronger relationship between theory and practice whereas teachers, including those who belong to School boards, valorized the generic nature of the training model and its pedagogical practice components.