ISCE Douro: Master’s Degree in Pre-School Education and Teaching of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education
By José Andrade (ESTG-IPP)
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At the Douro-ISCE Douro Higher Institute of Educational Sciences, the Master’s Degree in Pre-School Education and 1st Cycle of Basic Education, seeks to train professionals with fundamental skills for early childhood education and primary school. Capable of mastering the contents of various indoles such as scientific, humanistic, artistic, social, among others, considered fundamental to the exercise of their function. Inserted in level 7 of the EQF, it confers the master degree.
In this cycle of studies, the stage corresponds to a curricular unit and is foreseen in the plan, it is approved by the competent entities when the curricular plan of the course is approved. The school in a certain way tries to make a selection the entities able to accommodate the trainees, however it is given the possibility of the trainee to choose the organization where it trains, using criteria of proximity, of ease of transport and that corresponds to his expectations. The partnership is signed in written agreement between the school and the host organization, which defines the rights and obligations of both parties. The process of evaluating the internship is based on the opinions issued by the cooperating teacher by the school and the supervising teacher on the part of the organization, both of which have the same weight on the final grade.
This type of internship takes place in the school and in the welcoming organization, where the practical part in work environment takes place. Depending on the internship plan, the practical component aims to enable the trainee to approach a real context of his future profession, to experience teaching practices, to establish the relation between theory and practice, to coexist with the daily complexity of school reality and to experiment and interact in practice with students. This process is accompanied by a cooperating teacher who monitors and supervises all these relationships and behaviors.
With these practices there has been an approximation the schools to the remaining society and particularly to the organizations, the realization of partnerships allows to show the results of the school as trainer and the companies find in the schools a place to recruit their professionals. On the other hand, there is growth on the part of the student as a professional and citizen, entry into the labor market is more cautious and the student presents this psychological reinforcement. Today they are the first gateway into the job market.
In a way, it is possible to understand as a barrier the difficulty that occurs in the placement of students in organizations, especially in the smaller media.
As it has been observed in several schools, these periods of training in the work context have contributed to a student’s growth in the most varied levels, complementing the theoretical training and integrating it in a more effective and precocious way in the market of job.
