Evaluation of a Meta-Practicum Program in the Training of Early Childhood Educators

Abstract

In the current conditions of initial teacher training, the practicum is increasingly acquiring a more important role, becoming one of the central aspects of teacher training. The present article accounts for a study aimed at designing, applying, and evaluating a program that can be characterized as a meta-practicum as it integrates, based on a strategy of a practicum community, meta-cognitive thinking and action investigation to improve the quality of the training of early childhood educators. It was validated with a qualitative methodology including the participative evaluation of programs, with a sample of ten students in the final stages of their practicum, ten classroom teachers, and four university supervisors responsible for the process. The results show that there was a positive assessment of the experience and of the transforming action that the program demonstrated in the professional training of participant students.