Revisiting the Reflective Competence in the Initial Training of Spanish Language Teachers: A Quinquennium Report
Initial Teacher Training, Spanish as a Foreign Language, Reflective Competence, Report after five years.
The present work aims to analyze, understand, and problematize the presence of reflective competence (RC) during the initial training and in-service of teachers of Spanish as a foreign language. We understand RC in light of the following authors: ALMEIDA FILHO (1993-2009), BASSO (2001), CORACINI (2001), LIBANEO (2005), ORTIZ and SANTANA (2015), SANTOS (2018), and CASSOLI (2020), who established the expected competencies for a language teacher, particularly reflective competence, which serves as the basis for this research. ORTIZ (2015) defines reflective competence as: "a thorough reflection on action, confronting knowledge, trends, and reconstructing our practice, rearranging and restructuring knowledge." Coracini (2001) understands reflection as "the activity of retrospection with the aim of examining the reasons and beliefs that underlie pedagogical actions and generating alternative actions for the future." Methodologically, based on a qualitative perspective, we conducted a case study and collected information using different instruments from 1 (one) participant who took part in the first part of this study in 2018. Testimonies were gathered through interviews, questionnaires, letters, and field visits. Among the expected results, we intend to mobilize this investigation by observing whether reflective competence is employed in the performance of the Spanish teacher in the classroom and how contact with reflective competence influenced their initial training and professional action.