Ensinar Também é Aprender: Um Percurso de Construção da Identidade Docente

Abstract

This School Placement Report reflects the experience gained during the Professional Placement undertaken by a preservice teacher (the author) and highlights the experiences, challenges, and learning developed throughout the Supervised Teaching Practice. Among the main challenges were assuming, for the first time, responsibility for teaching a 12thgrade class, managing classroom dynamics, continuously adapting lesson planning to students' characteristics and the constraints of the school context, as well as developing the ability to provide increasingly clear, timely, and appropriate feedback tailored to different learning situations. Continuous reflection on teaching practice proved essential in progressively overcoming the difficulties initially experienced, resulting in increased confidence, autonomy, and the quality of pedagogical intervention. Alongside the teaching practice, a research study was conducted to analyse students' perceptions of different pedagogical approaches implemented in Physical Education classes, as well as the development of their physical fitness. To this end, three distinct pedagogical approaches were implemented during Tabata-based interval training sessions, allowing for the comparison of students' perceptions across the different approaches while monitoring the development of their physical fitness throughout the intervention. The results suggested an apparent positive development in physical fitness, as well as differences in motivation and perceived learning. This experience made an important contribution to the development of my professional identity, allowing me to understand that being a teacher involves much more than mastering content or planning lessons. Learning to listen to students, value their contributions, and adapt pedagogical intervention to their needs proved to be one of the most meaningful lessons of this journey. More than the culmination of my initial teacher education, the placement marked the beginning of a professional path that I intend to continue building through responsibility, critical reflection, and a lifelong commitment to learning.