Initial training of foreign language teachers: a space to generate performance styles

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. This article high lights teacher-student relation ship in educational context, where the teachers stands as facilitators of learning and consequently must rethink their teaching style as a theoretical and practical dimension of their professional work. Teaching style refers to the teaching tendency to adopt a specific way of interacting with the student based on the specific demands of the task, to perceive the needs, interests, and abilities of the student and to think about educational practice. The aim is to identify trends in teaching styles described by students of Foreign Languages of the Faculty of Education of the Community of Galicia and students of the Masters’ degree in Initial Teacher Training for Secondary Education. METHOD. The present study was performed under a descriptive cross-sectional approach, with a sample consisting of 123 students. A scale about teaching styles (ESEE) was applied, consisting of 31 items measuring six dimensions (academic, thoughtful, cooperative, individualizing, innovativeand inquirer style). RESULTS. Statistical analysis identified significant differences in teaching styles based on gender and qualification, highlighting women in the thoughtful and individualizing styles and Magisteriostudents in the cooperative, individualizing and inquirer styles. DISCUSSION.One of the challenges to be faced by teachers in the course of their work is to be able to take the principles of active teaching styles and manage the demands posed by the educational community. Therefore, with the purpose of improving the quality of education is necessary to delve into conceptions that future teachers hold regarding teaching styles because around each style cluster a set of principles and standards of behaviour that facilitate or impede the proper development of learning.