STATE-OF-THE-ART EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH CONCERNING THE REGENT TEACHER'S ROLL IN UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS

Abstract

This article shows the results achieved by a data survey of research efforts that studied the formative
training process for undergraduate students, more specifically, students majoring in Education. The
analysis is limited to the duration of the mandatory undergraduate academic teaching internship for the Initial Years of Elementary School. The role of the teacher who guides the intern in his/her own
classroom is investigated to identify the functions attributed to that professional as a mediator
between the university and the internship field. The study seeks to understand that specific teacher's
role and possible contributions as a co-instructor for a new generation of teachers. In order to do this,
a State-of-the-Art type research was performed. A decision was made to carry out a survey and
gather data from research efforts available in the CAPES's (Coordination for the Improvement of
Higher Education Personnel) Theses and Dissertations Catalogue. The collected data encompassed
the period between 2010 and 2020. By analyzing the data, the existence of several monikers used to
refer to the field internship teacher was evident: “Regent Teacher”, “Support Teacher”,
“Collaborating Teacher”, “Experienced Teacher”, among others. The study showed that the
supervising teacher, regardless of the name or terminology that identifies him/her as a formative
agent in the internship process, is still not sufficiently researched. That fact could create gaps in our
knowledgebase which would make it more difficult to understand the actual role these professionals
play in the qualification of new teachers. With respect to the actual implementation of the supervised
internships and to whether those supervising teachers see themselves as formative agents or as
sharers of the responsibility for the new generation of education professionals, there are still doubts
as to whether their actions reflect a formative intent; especially since many research efforts show
that, to some extent, these teachers have only reproduced teaching models based on experience,
without a commitment to a tangible training of our future teachers.