Future Teachers Of Primary Education Research Articles

Subject matter knowledge in Primary Education teacher training

INTRODUCTION. The article questions a basic problem of didactics: the relevance of subject matter knowledge as a quality requirement in teacher training. Subject matter knowledge is assumed to be necessary to facilitate student learning and education. Specifically, it is understood as a requirement for teachers to be able to carry out didactic designs and developments that facilitate meaningful learning experiences and strengthen the conceptual structure of students. The objective of the research is to know if future Primary Education teachers and preservice Primary Education teachers have an adequate knowledge of subject matter knowledge. METHOD. To answer the objective, the type and organization of their knowledge is examined through concept maps, evaluating the productions with validated structural and semantic rubrics. RESULTS. The results show that, in general, teachers have a very poor organization of subject matter knowledge, with a weak didactic potential. DISCUSSION. Likewise, the data indicate that there are insignificant differences between the concept maps of teachers in training and those made by practicing teachers, which reflects a similar andcyclical knowledge structure. The conclusions point to the low and limited impact of teacher education programs on pre-service teachers’ acquisition of subject matter knowledge, even though it is understood as a general didactic requirement for teacher education and, for the development of quality teaching.

Digital and Social-Civic Skills in Future Primary Education Teachers: A Study from the Didactics of Social Sciences for the Improvement of Teacher Training in Competences

The use of technology, especially among young people, is providing new possibilities, including in the academic field, and requires teacher training through the development of skills and competences. At this point, Social Science Didactics plays a fundamental role, as it prepares future teachers to teach social knowledge in order to achieve useful and meaningful learning for students and society. Using an online questionnaire, structured with the Likert scale, which had previously been validated and published by Professors Peart, Gutiérrez-Esteban, and Cubo-Delgado, 156 students of the Degree in Primary Education of the subject Didactics of Social Sciences at the University of Granada (Spain) participated (academic year 2023–2024), with the aim of investigating the digital and socio-civic competences of trainee teachers in order to seek ways to improve their training. The results were processed in the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 programme, carrying out a descriptive statistical analysis, considering the mode and the variance ratio. The participating students mainly use digital environments to communicate with acquaintances and, although they know and value a democratic society, they do not exercise their citizenship on the Internet. This makes it even more necessary to train future teachers in digital competences, based on digital and socio-civic skills, as only in this way will they be able to train citizens capable of facing the challenges of the knowledge society.

Самоорганизация будущего педагога начального образования как условие его профессиональной успешности

<p><em>The article proposes to discuss the problem of developing universal competence (in terms of the Federal State Standard of Higher Education), meta–competence, key competence/skill — self-organization among future primary education teachers. Its significance for the teacher’s increasingly complex activity in conditions of constant changes is shown. The insufficiency of conditions for its development in students in the process of vocational education is substantiated. The results of studying the opinions of students — future teachers of primary education on certain aspects of self-organization are presented. It is established that future primary education teachers highly appreciate their level of self-organization development, but the productivity of activity is relatively low. The factors preventing students from being organized are identified — lack of motivation, laziness and doing extra work, as well as conditions conducive to students’ self–organization — training in special self-organization skills and reducing the academic load.</em></p>

Competências digitais dos futuros professores do ensino pré-escolar e do ensino básico: um estudo de comparações múltiplas

Digital competence is an essential element for the initial training of teachers, as it allows them to integrate digital technologies into their teaching practice. Therefore, the purposes of this study were: (1) to know the self-perceived level of future teachers of Primary Education and Early Childhood Education regarding their digital competences; (2) to compare if there are significant differences in the digital competences between the future teachers of both educational stages; and (3) to identify if there are significant differences in the competences of the future teachers between the different academic courses of the educational degree, for each educational degree. To achieve the objectives, a non-experimental ex post facto study was carried out with a sample of 897 students from the Infant and Primary degrees. The results showed that future teachers have a medium-high self-perceived level of digital competence in both educational degrees, finding significant differences between future teachers of Early Childhood Education and Primary Education, being the latter those who obtained higher scores. For future teachers of the Early Childhood Education stage, significant differences were found between the students of the first and fourth year, while for those of Primary Education, differences were found between all the academic courses, except between the third and fourth. These results suggest that initial teacher training should focus on the development of the digital competences of future teachers, with special attention to the first academic courses.

PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A SAFE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONDITIONS OF MARTIAL LAW

Creating a secure educational environment is a crucial factor in shaping a well-rounded individual who feels comfortable, at ease, and engaged in the process of acquiring new knowledge. Providing an appropriate environment for children of primary school age is characterized by supporting their mental and physical health and well-being, responsibility, values, and benevolence. The task of future teachers of primary education is to ensure conditions in the educational environment that prevent manifestations of violence, aggression, bullying, bullying, limitations, etc. Training future primary school teachers to create a safe educational environment under martial law is characterized by the assimilation of knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities to act in emergency situations, respond in time to danger, psychologically adjust children to optimistic motives, inform them about the rules for handling dangerous and suspicious objects, on evacuation and air alert actions. The article highlights the factors affecting the organization of a safe educational environment. It was found that in the conditions of martial law, the future teacher must be aware and ready to act during the «Air alarm» signal, evacuation, staying in a storage or shelter, the use of various types of weapons (chemical, biological), radiation threat, fire, building collapse, detection of explosive objects, and provision of pre-medical and psychological assistance to children. In the author's opinion, the content of professional training of future teachers should include educational disciplines, innovative forms and methods that will help to understand the peculiarities of organizing a safe educational environment, which will allow them to be responsible in their own professional activities in the future. In order to increase the level of readiness to consciously treat the organization of a safe educational environment during the training of future teachers, it is worth holding thematic events, trainings, organizing meetings with emergency services workers, psychologists and medical specialists, etc. The direction of future research is shaped by an examination of the professional preparation of prospective primary education teachers to foster a secure educational environment within the framework of an inclusive educational setting.

A Task-based learning application in Higher Education, for future teachers of primary and preschool education

Task-based learning is a technique often applied in language classes to enhance language acquisition in learners. We show that the same method has several benefits when applied to other subject of learning, having a very formative component by being a student-centered technique. The present study was conducted with high education undergraduate students studying didactics of mathematics, in the program that prepares teachers for primary and kindergarten education. By conducting various tasks, students have perceived the importance of the subject, have constructed applications that can be used in the teaching activity and have discussed which teaching methods are best applied in the topics that are taught in primary and preschool education. The finds show that tasks are enjoyable, well perceived by students, engaged multiple emotions and developed much needed skills for a 21st century teacher. In addition, by working in groups, discussing the best way to conduct tasks, motivation can be boosted and support the learning processes.

A comparison of the effects of different methodologies on the statistics learning profiles of prospective primary education teachers from a gender perspective

Over the last decades, it has been shown that teaching and learning statistics is complex, regardless of the teaching methodology. This research presents the different learning profiles identified in a group of future Primary Education (PE) teachers during the study of the Statistics block depending on the methodology used and gender, where the sample consists of 132 students in the third year of the PE undergraduate degree in the University of the Basque Country (Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, UPV/EHU). To determine the profiles, a cluster analysis technique has been used, where the main variables to determine them are, on the one hand, their statistical competence development and, on the other hand, the evolution of their attitude towards statistics. In order to better understand the nature of the profiles obtained, the type of teaching methodology used to work on the Statistics block has been taken into account.  This comparison is based on the fact that the sample is divided into two groups: one has worked with a Project Based Learning (PBL) methodology, while the other has worked with a methodology in which theoretical explanations and typically decontextualized exercises predominate. Among the results obtained, three differentiated profiles are observed, highlighting the proportion of students with an advantageous profile in the group where PBL is included. With regard to gender, the results show that women's attitudes toward statistics evolved more positively than men's after the sessions devoted to statistics in the PBL group.

Problems of Improving the Quality of Training of Future Primary Education Teachers

A key factor in the dynamic development of the economy is the improvement of the staffing process in domestic higher education. In accordance with this, Kazakhstan's higher education faces the task of ensuring the necessary quality and recognition of education at the world level. The article will be devoted to the problem of improving the quality of training of future primary education teachers. The article analyzes the current state of the quality of education in the higher education system based on the study of scientific literature, the experience of the accreditation system for quality assurance in the field of higher education is considered. The main pedagogical factors affecting the quality of students' education are determined. The analysis of the rating of educational programs at the NAAR (independent agency for accreditation and rating) of primary education programs Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University for 2015–2020, 2022 years. The opinions of students of the primary education program related to factors directly affecting the quality of education are analyzed based on the results of the questionnaire. The results of the survey of 3rd-year students of the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University in the direction of “Primary education programs” clearly showed the attitude of students to the quality of education. It substantiates the need for adequate financial, social and academic support for the teacher and the student, support for students from small groups, provision of consulting services.

Perception of Future Spanish Primary Education Teachers on Their Multicultural and Multilingual Competencies and the Sustainability of the Educational System

The objectives of this article are, first, to assess the self-awareness that future primary school teachers have on their role in integrating international students into school and society; second, to determine the importance they give to multiculturalism and multilingualism to develop the communicative competence of their international students. This work is an extension of previous research, started in 2019, with the overall objective of analyzing the sustainability of education systems regarding their current cultural and linguistic diversity. The research question is whether future primary teachers know both assessed aspects. The main problem lies in the initial training in the national language. Its initial design contemplated a context where all students were native speakers. However, the percentage of students with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds has continued to increase. Therefore, communicative competence is crucial for their academic and social inclusion. Through quantitative methodology, the future primary education teachers participated in a survey that addressed these issues. The results demonstrated that training in this aspect makes them aware of their role as mediators and social agents for inclusion. According to the findings, revising initial teacher training in didactics of the language is crucial.

Indigenous heritage as an educational resource in primary education

ABSTRACT This paper is the result of an inter-university educational innovation project developed between the University of La Laguna (Spain) and the Autonomous University of Baja California (Mexico). Students from both institutions, studying at the equivalent level to become future primary education teachers, analysed the way in which primary school textbooks approach the topic of heritage in the Canary Islands and in Mexico. Flipped classrooms and project-based learning were the main teaching methodologies, culminating in a final assignment: a written report by students. The results enable us to re-evaluate the knowledge transmitted through textbooks in the light of this history, and their facilitation in teaching and learning processes, with attention to their epistemological biases. Several topics were highlighted as core concerns in the use of textbooks for teaching heritage: the need to question the role of the textbook in the teaching process, and the importance of Indigenous heritage when teaching and holistic concept of heritage. In outlining the inter-university teaching project, the article also shows how the analysis of textbooks in both contexts, and their subsequent comparison, has made possible a reformulation of how students of education in the Canary Islands and Mexico are taught to teach history.

Active learning strategies for an effective mathematics teaching and learning

Learning is an active enterprise, where three dimensions stand out, cognitive, social, and physical, and, in addition, not all students learn in the same way. Grounded on these ideas, this article reports a study that aims to understand and characterize the performance of pre-service teachers when experiencing active learning strategies during their mathematics classes. The participants were 48 future teachers of primary education (3-12 years old) that experienced paper folding, a gallery walk, and a math trail as active learning strategies. We followed a qualitative methodology, collecting data though observations, written productions, and photographic records. The analysis involved a qualitative and inductive approach resorting to content analysis. The results of the study show that the participants valued these experiences, due to their potential in the development of a diversity of mathematical concepts and abilities, and throughout them showed traits of cognitive, social, and physical engagement. Active learning provided collaborative work and mathematical communication enabling the emergence of different strategies to solve the proposed tasks. The participants were able to reflect and be aware of their ideas, mistakes, and difficulties, as well as of others, in a non-threatening environment, where movement was highlighted for not being a popular dimension in mathematics classes. Although more research is needed, the results encourage the use of active learning strategies as a valuable approach to teaching and learning.

DIGITAL SECURITY IN EDUCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS: A STUDY BASED ON FUTURE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS

A key aspect of future teacher training in this highly digitalized period of education requires a specific focus on digital skills, especially in the area of security. This study delves into this issue by means of a quantitative, theoretical and systematic review of future teachers currently in training at the Faculty of Education, Economy and Technology of Ceuta of the University of Granada (Spain). The specific intention is to determine their perception of the instruction they receive on digital matters, concretely on cybersecurity during their phase of pre-service. To carry out the project, the study resorted to a descriptive method by submitting the participants to a specifically designed questionnaire entitled “Digital Security Competence Required for Teachers”. Examinations of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire reveal its relevance and reliability. The intention, after applying descriptive and inferential statistics tests, was to determine whether students in pre-service training really feel competent on digital matters or if they feel need more theoretical-practical training, especially in the area of security. The general findings reveal that future female teachers pursuing a university degree in Early Childhood Education, although competent from the techno-pedagogical viewpoint, indicate that attaining a high level of competence in digital security requires more theoretical and practical training. Future male Primary Education teachers, by contrast, perceive themselves as competent in digital security. This perhaps stems from their training (courses and workshops) in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the theoretical and practical instruction they received at the university during courses or during a practicum. This aspect deserves further research because, as highlighted elsewhere, higher education institutions must prioritize instruction on digital security in their teacher programs.

Assessment of future teachers’ geographic knowledge of the territorial organization of Spain using mental maps

This study analyzes the knowledge of the Spanish State’s administrative structure (provinces and autonomous communities) of future primary education teachers in Spain. The purpose is to analyze the relationship between the results yielded by a geographic knowledge test and students’ socioeconomic, educational and geographic context. The methodology chosen is based on the analysis of mental maps drawn up by the participants in the study, which included 627 students taking the Undergraduate Degree in Primary Education Teaching at four Spanish universities. A synthetic index supported by a principal component analysis and Cloke’s rurality index has been developed. The results show that students’ origin, their parents’ occupational status, their age and, to a lesser degree, their gender, are variables that contribute to drawing an explanation of the geographic literacy of the participants in the study. Only the indexes of 38% of the total scored above average.

Проблема психологической готовности будущих учителей начальных классов к профессиональной деятельности

<p>This article attempts to analyze the problem of psychological readiness of future teachers of primary general education. The concept of “psychological readiness” and its main characteristics are analyzed. An empirical study of psychological readiness for professional activity of a teacher from the position of factors of psychological readiness, emotional-value attitude and professional identity was conducted. The results obtained indicate that the main professional ideas have been formed: about yourself as a specialist, your role, and professional goals. Objective factors of psychological unpreparedness of the subjects were studied: low social status, professional overload, dissatisfaction with the climate in an educational institution. As personal factors, the subjects noted emotional difficulties — professional fears, emotional shock from professional problems they would have to face, low stress tolerance, diffuse identity. The obtained results allowed us to draw conclusions and formulate general directions for solving this problem in practical education.</p>

Проектирование средств оценки компетенций воспитательного модуля у будущих педагогов начального общего образования

<p>The article presents a solution to the problem of designing means for assessing professional competencies in future teachers of primary general education according to the module of educational activities of the Core of Higher Pedagogical Education. The authors substantiate the process of designing assessment tools by teachers on the basis of competency-based and modular approaches to the content of teacher education based on the conceptual approaches presented in the studies of A.A. Verbitsky, A.V. Khutorsky, N.N. Narbekov, M.A. Bezborodova, O.A. Kozyreva, A.V. Novikov. Information-analytical, planning-prognostic, organizational-executive, control-diagnostic, regulatory-corrective stages of designing evaluation tools are presented. The content and planned results of the teacher’s activity are revealed in the course of designing evaluation tools for the psychological and pedagogical training of bachelors students in the profile “Primary education”. The prospects of the study are to determine the levels of formation of the competencies of the module of educational activity in future primary school teachers based on the creation of competency-oriented professional tasks.</p>

Integrating COIL in teacher training: An estimation of learners´ motivational attitudes

Collaborative Online International Learning experiences have gained popularity and presence in the last years, but the motivational impact they have on future Primary Education teachers in the field of teacher training education is to be researched. We present a quantitative study that tries to estimate the level of motivation of teacher training students that are in the trilingual degree in the Basque Country. This study examines the level of confidence, attention, satisfaction and relevance of learners in higher education according to Keller’s ARCS model of motivation. It compares the results obtained between learners that have taken part in the Collaborative Online International Learning project, from now on COIL, and those that did not have the opportunity to take part in the virtual exchange and that had to develop the project in the traditional way. It also reflects the opinions they have regarding the general satisfaction of the project. The study involved 43 students from the UPV/EHU (University of the Basque Country) and students from Masaryk University. The data was collected through a validated questionnaire IMMS created in Google Forms. Key findings include that this faculty driven intervention that in all the dimensions, except Satisfaction, show significance results. Therefore, it is confirmed that the dimensions of Attention, Relevance, Confidence, as well as the overall score of the instrument (Global IMMS), show significant differences between the two groups analyzed. The exceptionality of the Satisfaction dimension is very close to the rejection zone of the null hypothesis. This helps us to underline the positive value of the implementation of virtual exchanges and it is therefore concluded that the greater motivation, the higher the degree of positive attitudes towards taking part in virtual exchanges. These results allow decisions to be taken with regard to implementing these experiences in the initial training of teachers, since the data that has been collected has direct implications for global learning engagement level and as an effective pedagogical approach to prepare all students to cope with the requirements that a 21st century society has.

Beyond functionality: Building critical digital teaching competence among future primary education teachers

Digital literacy has moved away from its traditional instrumental conception, to be nourished by critical perspectives that have been increasingly adopted in all areas of the analysis of technology and education. The importance of generating educational models that contribute to the emancipation of people in a post-digital and highly complex world is an increasingly evident challenge. However, it is still difficult to find concrete examples of pedagogical strategies specifically devised to foster digital literacy in line with this much needed emerging critical lens. This paper presents a case study of a set of learning experiences integrated into a compulsory module for students in the 1st year of a degree in education sciences, which leads to the qualification required to teach at primary schools in Spain. The results highlight the importance of providing students with learning opportunities conceived to help them become future teachers ready to have a transversal impact on education for the emancipation of people in the post-digital world, rather than simply training them as operators who use technology to enhance skills.

Intermedia Art Projects in Vocational Training of Primary and Pre-primary Education Teachers

Vocational training of future teachers of primary and pre-primary education strives to prepare future teachers to succeed in pedagogical practice as best they can. That is why they should have the opportunity to connect theory and reflected practical experience, not only within pedagogical practices. One of the possibilities is intermediate artistic projects offered to students of the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Brno, within didactic preparation and independent disciplines. They provide students with additional knowledge, help to gain experience, and emotional experience. Implemented intermediate projects are also a source of valuable research data. Their analysis revealed essential conclusions that can improve the training of future teachers.

THE USE OF HYFLEX TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO STUDENTS OF PEDAGOGICAL SPECIALTIES UNDER MODERN CHALLENGES

The article highlights the use of the HyFlex technology in teaching foreign languages to students of pedagogical specialties, in particular, 013 “Primary Education” and 012 “Preschool Education” under modern challenges. In accordance with the research target, the following tasks are defined as clarifying the essence of basic concepts; describing the HyFlex technology of teaching a foreign language; and determining the prospects of further research of the HyFlex technology of teaching a foreign language for future teachers of primary and preschool education. The method and procedure of an ascertaining stage of the pedagogical experiment is presented in this research which includes self-assessment surveys and diagnostic tools to evaluate students' readiness to learn foreign languages in the HyFlex model. Intuitive, reproductive, searching, and creative students' readiness levels are defined by the authors in terms of the HyFlex model. The results of the research suggest that most students exhibit a reproductive level of skills in this context. The article provides insights into the organization, principles, and structure of HyFlex foreign language teaching for students specializing in primary and preschool education, emphasizing the importance of technological and linguistic criteria. The authors present an array of educational tools and digital resources that enhance language learning within the HyFlex framework (Google Services (Google documents, presentation, sheets, forms, Jamboard), Quizlet and Anki, Mentimeter, Quizalize, WordWall, Flip, Canva, Vocaroo, Metaverse Studio Application). Future research is expected to focus on the formative stage of the pedagogical experiment, aiming to further develop students' abilities in foreign language learning within the HyFlex model.

Case technology based on art as a way to form communicative competence in future teachers of pre-school and primary education

Case technology based on art as a way to form communicative competence in future teachers of pre-school and primary education