The teaching of didactics and the teacher trainer’s role from the perspective of Visual Arts teaching students

Abstract

This article derives from a study with 52 students at an undergraduate teacher preparation program in visual arts, with the purpose of analyzing the teacher education constructed in the context of the disciplines of didactics, considering what is taught, how it is taught, and the influence of teacher trainers based on what they do to teach. We decided to investigate this course because its curricular structure, in the specific higher education institution we studied, is still anchored in a technicist-based didactics, thus challenging teacher trainers who approach didactics in a critical perspective. Data collection involved a questionnaire which was administered to students, as well as discussion groups with the participants. Theoretically speaking, the study develops from the assumption that the act of teaching involves the teacher’s specialized action to promote students’ learning. Because this action is specialized, those who conduct it must mobilize specific which is knowledge academically recognized as a basis of professional teacher knowledge. Our analysis evidences that the object of didactics is central to teaching, but approaching methodologies without sliding towards the technicist perspective is still the teacher trainer’s main challenge; internship is recognized as a powerful space-time for education in didactics; and the influence of the teacher trainer on the constitution of teacher professional formation is underscored.