Initial teaching experience. A case study in the subject "New Technologies applied to Education"

Sometimes, we do not pay enough attention to the process experienced by a novice teacher when he plunges into the complex world of teaching. Each educational stage possesses some well-defined features which would influence the work and the adaptation of the novice teacher, everything immersed in a process which is not always easy. This paper analyzes the incorporation of a novice teacher into the teaching of an undergraduate course on Information and Communication Technologies to preservice teachers at the Faculty of Education and Social Work of the University of Valladolid. For that purpose, we have established an interpretative research process, following a Case Study approach (Stake, 1998) during the current academic year (2007-2008). The different theoretical and practical foundations of the curricular design of the course are based on the principles of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning field (CSCL) (Koschman, 1996). As a well as in the ones promoted by Inquiry based Learning approach (IBL) (Bruce, 2000). Collaboration and technology are understood as mediators between teaching and learning processes. Through this innovative design- shared by a community of practice formed by other three teachers as well-, we have analysed both the technological and educative training process performed by this novice teacher. Moreover, the analysis of this experience has helped us to deepen in the understanding of the kind of competences which novice teachers require in curricular designs similar to this one within the European Convergence Process proposed by the European Space of Higher Education (ESHE).