Entre Partituras e Interpretações: Aprender a Ser Professora de Educação Física

Abstract

The School Placement constitutes a decisive stage in the transition from academic education to the teaching profession. Written by a pre service Physical Education teacher, this report portrays the pedagogical interpretation developed over an academic year at a school in the city of Espinho through a process of observation, decision-making, reflection, and reconstruction of practice. The musical metaphor conveys how teaching gained meaning through the interplay between pedagogical intentions, the context, and students' responses. The intervention focused on a 10th-grade class characterised by diverse experiences, performance levels, motivations, and engagement in tasks. This heterogeneity required a flexible approach in which the organisation of practice, assessment, and the progressive promotion of student autonomy assumed particular relevance. Throughout this process, progress extended beyond motor performance, as reflected in a deeper understanding of practice situations and more responsible participation in students' own learning and that of their peers. The experience also showed that pedagogical choices do not produce automatic responses, as their effects depend on the clarity of their purposes, teacher mediation, and students' involvement in the regulation of learning. The differences observed in students' participation in team sports gave rise to a pedagogical intervention study on the contribution of strategies guided by the principles of Cooperative Learning to the promotion of a more inclusive 4×4 volleyball game. The results showed increased participation in second and third contacts among most students who were initially less involved in these actions, as well as a statistically significant increase in task cohesion, with no significant changes in social cohesion, although participation trajectories varied across students and teams. Teaching a 5th-grade class, supporting School Sport, and participating in school life broadened the understanding of teaching as a pedagogical, relational, collaborative, and institutional practice. This experience further developed the pre service teacher's professional identity, making her more confident, critical, and aware of the responsibility to promote inclusive, intentional Physical Education focused on every student's learning.