Formative research in teacher training: A case study carried out in Uruguay

Abstract

The importance of professionalism in teaching practices for achieving high-quality education has been acknowledged. Becoming a professional teacher is a long-term commitment but it is essential to promote high standards of professionalism from the beginning of teacher candidate formation. In addition, as professionalism in teaching is closely linked to the concept of “teacher as a researcher”, formative research seems to be a potent strategy for engaging future teachers in developing research abilities, essential for understanding and analyzing their educational practices. In this sense, the objective of this work is to explore the influence of a formative research approach on the development of research competencies by applying an action-research approach with a longitudinal cut. Thus, an intervention based on a ubiquitous strategy of formative research was implemented during the final three years of education of a teacher's training institution in Uruguay. The teacher candidate development of research competencies was assessed along the process. The obtained results demonstrated the effectiveness of implementing formative research to enhance the research skills of teacher candidates. The assessment of overall research competencies exhibited a statistically significant and substantial positive change (Cohen's d = 0.92). The impact was most pronounced among teacher candidates with the least developed initial research competencies, particularly for those in the early stages of their careers. This suggests that candidates engaged in the formative research strategy throughout their studies might achieve even higher levels of research competencies. Disaggregating the results by gender and for most of the specific subjects showed similar effects. In addition, within the framework of ubiquitous learning, the emphasis on the use of digital tools during the intervention led to an increase in the development of the research skills related to these tools for the studied sample. This is the first example of a quantitative approach that leads to concrete conclusions related to the effect of a research formative strategy for teacher candidates in Uruguay.