Teachers for the 21st Century: Academic profile, initial training and teaching practices of Spanish teachers. Introduction

Main Article Content

María Castro Morera

Abstract

The paper presents a review of the initial academic characteristics, training and professional activity of Spanish teachers. It is framed within the current debate on teacher quality and its impact on the results of the educational system. Theoretical and conceptually, the study adopts the meta-research approach. Methodologically, a review of the literature on the subject is carried out to allow a well-founded reflection on the differential characteristics of Spanish teachers with respect to other teachers in other educational systems. In order to do that, some of the most relevant and high impact works published in recent years are considered. First, the academic profile of the aspiring teacher is characterized through a review of the literature and some data from the Spanish University System. Next, we present a comparative view of some formative elements and common teaching practices obtained, essentially, through the GTI and TALIS studies of the OECD. These include instructional practices (quality of discourse, quality of the subject matter presented and cognitive involvement of the student) and the formative profile declared by the teachers. The conclusions point to the fact that the differential profile of aspiring and practicing teachers is not clearly different from that of teachers in other educational systems, except in issues related to initial training in the disciplinary content of teaching and training in digital competence. The article closes with some reflections on possible challenges for the renewal of teacher training in the next decade and with a formal presentation of this monograph.

Article Details

How to Cite
Castro Morera, M. (2021). Teachers for the 21st Century: Academic profile, initial training and teaching practices of Spanish teachers. Introduction. Revista De Educación, (393). Retrieved from https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/Redu/article/view/89647
Section
Research