Social Representations about Initial Teacher Training : Diagnostic Assessment of Students who Enroll in Pedagogical Programs at two Chilean Universities

Abstract

This descriptive and interpretative study accounts for results of social representations regarding the teaching profession which students of initial teacher training report in two Chilean public institutions of Higher Education, from Ñuble and Los Lagos regions. This study arises from the updating of the National Educational Quality Assurance System, which establishes the obligation to apply a diagnostic test. To this end, the population was composed of 834 students from the 2018 cohort of 15 pedagogical programs from two national universities. A Likert-like scale instrument was applied, it was validated in a similar population in 2017. Numerical descriptive and inferential methods were applied to analyze the information. Generally concluding, common social representations are revealed about vocation, professional performance, prestige and social image of teachers regardless of sex; it suggests that the evaluated subjects shape a clearly modelled professional identity before starting their Initial Teacher Training.