Professional practices in times of Covid-19 pandemic: Challenges for Physical Education initial teaching training

Abstract

This article aims at understanding the meaning of the professional curricular internship period experienced by physical education trainees of two regional universities located in the Maule Region, Chile, during the Covid-19 pandemic in the first semester 2020. From the methodological standpoint, the study takes an interpretive-qualitative stance, hence three focus groups were organized and six in-depth interviews were conducted totalling 34 students in the process of professional curricular internship. The group and individual interviews were carried out via Zoom due to the health authority restrictions. The results show scarce contact with the students in the educational establishments, scarce use of social networks as teaching strategies, and a negative impact on motivational levels resulting from virtual teaching. The aforementioned issues emerge from the reflective processes and self-learning of the trainees. This study suggests pondering these reflections in the initial teaching training processes taking into account the relevance of the professional curricular internship in the construction of the teaching ethos of future Physical Education teachers.