What Does It Mean to Be A Good Teacher? The Beliefs of Future Secondary School Teachers in Spain

Juan García Rubio
Universidad De Valencia

Abstract

If there is one essential element in student learning, especially for those students with the most educational difficulties, it is the teacher. For teachers, having good training is essential for the good development of their classes. The initial training of future secondary education teachers in Spain follows a consecutive model, i.e. they first obtain a Bachelor's degree in some speciality - Mathematics, Economics, Social Sciences, etc. - and then they do a one-year Master's degree with mainly pedagogical training. This Master's degree, the Master's in Secondary Education Teacher Training, qualifies students to work in the teaching profession. In this paper we analyse the perception of students taking this Master's degree in the years 21-22 and 22-23 at the University of Valencia with regard to what they consider to be a good teacher. The Master's students, at the beginning of the course, after having been in the classroom with different teachers for practically their whole lives, start their initial training to become secondary school teachers with certain beliefs about what teachers should do to be considered good teachers. The analysis was carried out using a biographical-narrative methodological approach, analysing the stories told by 120 students about the positive qualities of the teachers they had experienced during their schooling. Numerous traits about the ideal teacher have been identified, allowing us to conclude that non-curricular aspects are more important than those strictly related to the curriculum in order to be a good teacher.

Presentation