Learning service and codesign in teacher training: integration ways of students’ experiences and perspectives

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Reflexive practice, understood as a mechanism for learning and building of knowledge, must be considered a key element during initial teacher training . On the one hand, it makes it possible for them to become aware of deep-rooted behaviors on which we do not reflect, in spite of their outcomes not always being desired. On the other hand, it contributes to the construction of a professional identity from each subject’s own individuality. Finally, it is indispensable for the development of the current school, as it favors the teaching and learning of strategies to understand situations that a few years ago were not present in our classes. METHOD. This article is based on current results of a study on designing strategies and tools to  help students reflect on their experiences during service learning programs. The current study is based on a co-design in which students and teachers participate during its development in multiple collaborative interactions with the objective of evaluating, innovating and improving the educational processes in which they participate. RESULTS. The co-design process, in successive iterations, has led to a battery of learning tools aimed at facilitating relations between theoretical knowledge and experience gained during the courses. DISCUSSION. The use of pedagogic tools or instruments that promote reflection through experiences during service learning projects have emerged as an appropriate methodological approach for initial teacher training . This approach allows a greater connection between theoretical training and practice, and between academic learning and from our own experience, reaching a more contextual and holistic perspective of higher education.