The Influence of Undergraduate Preparation on Professional Beginnings in School Practice of Novice Teachers

Abstract

The aim of the chapter is to present how the monitored beginning teachers perceive the influence of undergraduate training on their first years of teaching and what possibilities can be traced based on this to improve the quality of the undergraduate training of future teachers. Thirteen beginning biology teachers with experience ranging from 1 to 5 years were followed. For data triangulation, an elementary school teacher with a completed sixth year in practice without approval with biology and student teachers as part of the focus group were interviewed additionally. Data were obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews and were analysed using grounded theory. The results show that teaching practices are considered the most valuable component of undergraduate training preparing for a future profession; however, pedagogical practices are included late in undergraduate training and therefore cannot effectively help reduce the “theory-practice” gap in teacher education. Linked to this is the proposal to experience university teaching, for example, through micro-teaching or discussions of real school situations. Thus, they can help to meet the needs of beginning teachers with different experiences, and by mitigating the shock of practice, accelerate the professional teacher development, as was graphically represented by means of intersecting triangles.