Abstract:

Research on innovation in education tends to focus on the idea that innovation should be guided by the effort to continuously improve upon processes and results. Much research has concentrated on identifying the factors that influence innovation in education. The questions that guide the present work are: how innovative do student teachers see themselves regarding their teaching practices? and which factors related to initial teacher training (ITT) influence this perception?

A survey was applied to a probabilistic sample of 650 last-year students in 134 primary and secondary education ITT programs in Chile. The variables were: the opportunities that ITT offers to develop innovative practices; the level of achievement perceived by students regarding ITT standards; and the level of achievement regarding other general aspects of ITT. The dependent variable is an index of perceived innovation, which asks the pedagogy students whether or not they believe they are more followers, or rather among the first to adopt, apply or develop changes to their teaching practices in differing performance areas.

The data shows that the pedagogy students perceive themselves to be innovators, particularly in implementing new ways of relating to students and regarding the use of pedagogical tools. They perceive themselves as being less innovative regarding curricular changes and ways of relating to colleagues.

Three opportunities offered by ITT are significantly related to the innovation of practices, especially the opportunity that the programs offer to seek out individualized ways of teaching without imitating others. Two results regarding ITT in terms of standards have higher correlations: researching progress and discoveries in teaching, and the opportunities to keep up to date regarding disciplinary and pedagogical issues. Two results regarding standards have lower correlations: the identification of disciplinary strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the regulatory frameworks of the teaching profession. Finally, regarding other ITT achievements, three have higher-level correlations: the capacity to be attentive to new opportunities, the capacity to develop new ideas and solutions, and the capacity to utilize time efficiently. In addition, two appear to have lower level correlations: dominion of the discipline and the development of critical thought.

In integrating all of the previously described variables into a linear multiple regression analysis, it can be observed that the set of variables explains only 16% of the variation regarding the innovation index. Of all the variables incorporated in the regression, the one that most explains the variation is the one related to seeking individual forms of teaching, without imitating others, as well as the capacity to be attentive to new opportunities.
The analysis of these various factors allows researchers to observe that dominion over content is only slightly associated with innovation, while the possibility of exploring new ways of teaching, researching progress in the teaching disciplines and pedagogy, and developing new ideas and solutions, are more associated with innovation.

The data also shows that the aspects analyzed regarding ITT contribute little to the development of innovation. This opens up new research questions, such as for example which other variables related to ITT might contribute to a more complete explanation of innovation in teaching practices.

Keywords:

Teaching practices, innovation, initial teacher training.