Perceptions of practicum supervision in a teacher training school in Angola

Abstract

The present article refers to a PhD study on the supervision of the practicum, carried out in the Teacher Training School Patrice Lumumba in Namibe – Angola. The study investigates the perceptions of the supervision actors regarding the goals of supervision, the supervisor profile, the supervisory process, the educational practices at school, the constraints to supervision and the measures needed to improve it. Questionnaires were administered to all student teachers, supervisors and training coordinators in 2014, in the nine initial teacher education programs run by the institution. Partial results relating to the actors who perform coordination and supervision roles at the institution show a rather fragmented view of the coordinator profile, some mismatches between ideal and practice-based perceptions of the supervisor profile, as well as a shared vision of problems and challenges of the practicum as a teacher education space. Participants point out the need to improve communication among supervision actors, conditions to accompany student teachers’ work, and training in supervision