Classified "A" by ANVUR in the fields 11/D1, 11/D2 Scientific in the field 14.
Abstract
The contribution presents a doctoral research project conducted jointly by the University of Málaga and Roma Tre University, aimed at investigating the role of university teaching practicum in the construction of teachers’ professional identity. Conceiving teacher education as a space for reflection, inquiry, and dialogue, the study focuses on the analysis of the relationship between tutor and student within the Degree Course in Primary Education Sciences, understood as a generative device for professional engagement and development, especially in complex educational contexts marked by fragility and vulnerability. From this perspective, particular attention is paid to the processes through which dialogic interaction with the tutor contributes to the shaping of teacher identity, fostering the development of reflective professional dispositions, critical understanding of educational contexts, and care- and inclusion-oriented educational practices. Within the framework of an action research case study involving three third-year students, tools such as field notes, observations, and semi-structured and narrative interviews were employed to explore the reflective processes activated during the practicum experience. Preliminary findings highlight how dialogue with the tutor, conceived as a “significant other,” creates a relational space of recognition and negotiation of meanings, fostering conscious and integrated professional growth. The practicum thus emerges as a generative context in which teaching is configured as a practice of relationship, care, and symbolic mediation, capable of integrating planning, action, and reflection. From this perspective, the construction of professional identity appears as a situated, dialogic, and ongoing process.
