Contribution of the curricular Practicum to competences training of teachers of Early Childhood and Primary Education in Spain

The objective of this paper is to analyse the contribution of professional internships to the initial training of future teachers of Early Childhood and Primary Education, from the perception of students towards the development of professional competences linked to those university degrees in Spain. The participating sample is made up of 932 subjects who finished their studies in three consecutive promotions (2017, 2018 and 2019), and who have completed external internships during three academic years. It is a quantitative, longitudinal study, with a questionnaire as an information collection instrument (alpha = .919). The results indicate that there is a moderate development of the competences during the internship period, and that the year of completion of the studies influences that development to a greater extent than the degree. It is also observed that the alternation between the scenarios involved in the practices (educational centre and faculty), is significantly linked to the development of professional skills, being higher, when there is more alternation.