Reimagining the practicum: Toward an inclusive, critical, and socially just initial teacher education

Abstract

The practicum is a privileged space for professional learning, although its transformative potential is limited by technocratic approaches and fragmented curricula that hinder the connection between experiences and critical perspectives on inclusion and social justice. This qualitative study analyzes the experience of 14 Primary Education pre-service teachers at a Spanish university who participate in reflective practicum seminars, in order to understand how these structures contribute to the development of an inclusive and critical professional identity. Drawing on field notes, recordings, and four semi-structured interviews, we conducted a reflexive thematic and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four experiential cores were identified: (a) the divide between academic knowledge and school reality; (b) the emergence of guided ethical reflection and inclusive agency; (c) the experience of uncertainty and collaborative learning around critical incidents; and (d) an active defense of inclusion in the face of training gaps observed across practicum groups. The results show that the seminars provide a space to process the “reality shock” and translate inclusive values into situated decisions, suggesting that reshaping the practicum through a social-justice-oriented lens is essential for preparing teachers as agents of change.