Leer y escribir, hablar y escuchar en los Institutos de Formación Docente: un desafío para profesores

Abstract

In the past few years there has been an increase in the number of applicants pursuing teaching careers in Teacher Training Colleges and –at the same time- there has been a decrease in the competences and abilities that these young adults show. The areas of difficulties found among these students are related to speaking, writing and reading comprehension skills. The present paper purports to briefly describe some of the challenges these new students face. The belief –or prejudice- that it is because of lack of “general knowledge” that students do not succeed has been dismissed, thus adhering to Paula Carlino’s concept of “shared responsibility.” The aforementioned author claims that each student creates the necessary opportunities for the development of the skills he or she lacks, which also allows the student to reflect on the processes involved in such tasks. In this paper some theoretical concepts which give evidence of the importance of the development of speaking, reading and listening skills in teacher trainees are explored with the ultimate objective of suggesting possible strategies for the classroom.