Nerea Agirre: “Special education student teachers need practical situations in their training that challenge their mental representations and suppositions”
Nerea Agirre: “Special education student teachers need practical situations in their training that challenge their mental representations and suppositions”
Nerea Agirre: “Special education student teachers need practical situations in their training that challenge their mental representations and suppositions”
Nerea Agirre earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude” for her dissertation, entitled “Irakasle inklusiboen hasierako prestakuntzan hausnarketa prozesu kolaboratiboen erraztailetzarako gako eta estrategiak” (“Keys and strategies for the facilitation of collaborative reflection processes in the initial training of inclusive teachers”), which she defended in December on the Eskoriatza campus. We spoke with her about her research.
On December 19, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researcher Nerea Agirre (Oñati, 1982) defended her dissertation, Irakasle inklusiboen hasierako prestakuntzan hausnarketa prozesu kolaboratiboen erraztailetzarako gako eta estrategiak (Keys and strategies for the facilitation of collaborative reflection processes in the initial training of inclusive teachers) on the Eskoriatza campus. We spoke with Dr. Agirre about her work, which earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude”.
What is the main topic of your doctoral dissertation?
My work focuses on the area of initial teacher training, within the framework of the profile of teachers who will promote inclusive educational practices in a committed and effective way; that is, within the framework of a teacher profile that seeks to respond to diversity in the classroom. Practical contexts are especially important in the training of inclusive teachers, in curricular planning in general, and in our pedagogical plan in particular. However, simply experiencing experiences or situations in real practical contexts does not aid in the construction of professional knowledge. But research has shown that systematic processes of reflection on practice do help. These reflection processes must seek to connect practical knowledge with other knowledge. Reflection should help the teacher, as a teacher, to question their own beliefs, mental representations, values, ideas and theories, and to identify what their own practice responds to. Ultimately, the key to being able to explain and justify one’s decisions and proposals is to develop pedagogical criteria through reflection on specific experiences or practical situations. There is also scientific evidence that carrying out these reflection processes in groups with the help of a tutor can have a positive effect on students. Based on this, my dissertation focuses on collaborative processes of reflection on practical situations experienced in multiple classrooms.
You chose to specialize in Special Education for your research for your degree in Primary Education. Why?
Within the specialty of Special Education, it has been a long journey to establish processes of reflection on practice within the framework of a collaborative culture. We chose to focus on it because of the opportunities it offers to delve deeper into the research topic and to enrich and expand our knowledge. On the one hand, it made it possible for us to become familiar, in detail, with aspects related to our daily activities and practices. But not only that. Given that many of the studies found on the research topic were qualitative and also case studies, this choice allowed us to identify aspects that could be suitable for transfer, compare the results of our study with those of other studies, and contribute to the discussion on more universal strategies for facilitating reflection processes.
What place does reflection have in the training of inclusive teachers? What kind of reflection do you mean, and what benefits does it have?
This dissertation shows that reflection starts from the dilemmatic situations that students experience in the practicum classroom; the process begins with specific practical situations that clash with the students’ mental representations. The aim is to gain an in-depth understanding of these situations. It was found that a key feature of the process is that reflection develops in group interaction. What this means is that it is not just a process done in a group, but a process done together. Knowledge is not a static object; it is something that is constructed in dialogue, in social exchange. The main benefit of this type of process is that learning develops at both the individual and group levels, which can bring about change in the students’ perspective. In this case, opportunities arose to reach an in-depth understanding of the children in the classroom, their needs, and the contexts that surround the child. And thus, a more conscious attitude toward a critical understanding of the situation can be achieved.
What conclusions have you drawn about processes of reflection on practical situations?
When organizing and facilitating reflection processes, we found that the importance of considering the dual dimension (the cognitive and socio-emotional dimension) numbered among the most important results. In order for students to build professional knowledge through reflection, when it comes to supporting the cognitive dimension, the most important thing is to focus group interaction and participation on specific functions. In this case, we found that group interaction was focused on being able to see dilemmatic situations brought up by students from different perspectives, clarifying the situation, analyzing the key elements, reinterpreting the situation, and providing suggestions for adjusting interventions.
However, the results demonstrate that, in addition to content, contexts that provide emotional support are necessary to develop reflection processes. This shows the importance of the tutor being attentive to the needs that arise in the dynamics of the process so that they can flexibly adjust the types of support provided and the ways in which support is provided according to those needs. Likewise, the results of the study show that not only the tutor but also the students play an important role in developing reflection processes. On the one hand, students have shown that, when they participate in reflection, they constantly make connections and links with specific practical situations that are familiar to them, which also helps the group. On the other hand, students also contributed in providing emotional support and facilitated the construction of a community of mutual support together with the tutor. Thus, it can be concluded that there is no rigid guidance from the tutor: rather, we’re talking about facilitation, and a context that facilitates learning, in which all participants have a voice. It can therefore be said that it is possible to achieve a deeper understanding or reinterpretation of the practical situations brought up by the students through group interaction and taking into account both the cognitive and socio-emotional dimensions, thanks to the contributions of both tutors and students.
How was the students’ participation? And the teachers’ participation? Was it easy to work with them?
A total of 51 students and 8 tutors from Mondragon University’s Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences participated in the research. The students were enrolled in the Practicum III course in the specialization in Special Education in the Primary Education degree program between the 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 academic years. We informed them of the research from the beginning and they were always willing to participate. The tutors who participated were from the Special Education group. In the reflection seminars related to the practicums, we use the pedagogical pair model: we meet on an ongoing basis and reflect critically on our teacher-tutor practice. It was easy to get them involved too.
What kind of experience did you have in your dissertation process?
The process of writing my dissertation was a long one. I’ve been in the doctoral program for a decade, including two breaks for maternity leave since I began my research. I’d like to mention two books that have been with me since the beginning: El investigador en su laberinto. La tesis, un desafío posible (The researcher in his labyrinth. The dissertation, a possible challenge) by Julian M. González, and Umberto Eco’s How to write a thesis. I was hooked as soon as I read the introduction to the former, and I’d like to mention a statement that I fully agree with: “One learns to do research. It is not enough simply to want to do it.” And from the latter, I took away the essence and main message of tackling a dissertation: a dissertation can also be an opportunity to learn about oneself and about life. And that’s what it was like for me. A learning process, full of motivation but as in life, it had its moments of regret, its transitions, its ups and downs, difficult moments and sweet ones. I firmly believe that contexts are necessary for development, including for development as a researcher. And in this sense, I feel that I was very privileged because I had group contexts both before and after I started my dissertation. All the formal and informal meetings and conversations that took place in those group contexts were key for me. I learned from all of them, they were all opportunities for development. I also felt cared for and supported at all times. So I’d like to thank my dissertation directors, and also each and every member of my group, and of course all my companions. And it would be impossible to list everything that my family members have given, or given up, for this dissertation. So to summarize, it was a long, hard road for me, but also a beautiful one.
Did you have any results that surprised you or that you didn’t expect?
Thanks to learning in depth about reflection processes, one of the things that has had the most positive effect on me was seeing the value of learning from the experience of interacting with others. My work gave me a lot of insight regarding the importance that practical experience in inclusive teacher training can have for all teachers. It’s become clear to me that these relationship situations provide opportunities to delve deeply into issues concerning equity or the lack of it. The results of the dissertation show that these relationship experiences can help people to focus on contexts, understand other people in depth, and identify the obstacles that prevent students from having access to opportunities in all areas, under the principle of equity. A conclusion and a lesson that I loved learning was the importance of considering the relational dimension in the construction of professional knowledge. Thus, those of us who work in teacher training or who design practices can gain from this dissertation a greater awareness of the professional responsibility we have to create diverse, rich and successful relationship opportunities for our students.
