Being a teacher in virtual environments: post-pandemic challenges and demands for initial teacher training. An approach from the evaluation of future teachers and their mentors.

Abstract

The 2020-2021 educational context, characterized by the abrupt change from a face-to-face modality towards distance education, generated learning experiences unknown up to that moment. Although distance education has existed for years, for the first time it was applied massively and at all educational levels. This article shows the results of a study that investigated the experience of future teachers and their mentors in the school system regarding the classroom practices carried out in this new virtual modality. From the application of a qualitative survey, and under a qualitative-interpretative paradigm, their practices were analyzed, identifying didactic, curricular, and technological aspects, among others, that facilitated or hindered the teaching-learning processes. The results show that for teachers in training this experience was highly complex, mainly due to what they consider to be a lack of preparation in their initial training for this virtual teaching scenario. In the case of their tutors, there is a negative perception of the impact of this context of virtual practices in the formation of professional skills. Although they admit the development of new skills, the inevitable return to face-to-face, considered this as the normal context, makes one always think about the deficiencies that virtuality leaves in professional skills necessary for face-to-face teaching. The foregoing also provides the framework for reflection on the demands that this new context places on the training of 21st century teachers.