1. Axes of the Practicum

1.5. Reflexive writing

Throughout the Practicum, three elements are put into action that serve to activate the reflection of trainee teachers (Sparks-Langer and Colton, 1991). These elements are as follows (Domingo, 2013, p. 165):

• The cognitive element. It refers to the body of knowledge that teachers need to make decisions in the classroom, and that Shulman (1987) classifies in seven categories: content knowledge; general pedagogical knowledge; curricular knowledge (materials, programs, etc.); teaching knowledge and own professional background; the knowledge of the students and their characteristics; knowledge of educational contexts, and knowledge of the foundations (logical, historical and axiological).
• The critical element. It is related to the moral and ethical aspects of every educational approach and the way to solve the dilemmas that arise in the exercise of teaching.
• The narrative element. It is related to the teachers’ narratives, that is to say, to the stories about their experiences in the classroom, taking many forms and serving various functions. It is in this framework that teachers’ journals are located, whose writing helps to build reflective thinking about the objective and subjective experiences of teachers (Domingo, 2013, p. 168).

These three elements are put into action during the Practicum through the writing of the reflective journal. The reflective journal is the instrument that activates the narrative element, which allows contextualizing the experience lived in the educational institution. This process helps students understand what happens in the educational institution, the construction of reality and allows the teaching staff to know and accompany the teaching learning experience of the students in a more personalized way.