Teacher education and observation practices in the supervised practicum from the perspective of critical hermeneutics

Abstract

This essay proposes a sensitive and critical reflection on observation practices within the supervised teaching practicum in initial teacher education. It argues that an instrumental logic often limits the practicum to the student-teacher’s mere physical presence in educational institutions. This prevents the process from echoing within their inner world and, consequently, converts what should be a moment of potential self-discovery into a mere bureaucratic appendix of teacher training. In contrast, it is argued that, from the perspective of critical hermeneutics, these observation practices must be constituted as a relational, reflective, and conscious experience. This is an invitation to break away from the "pedagogy of repetition" and, above all, from the technocratic reduction of the practicum, transforming observation practices during the supervised teaching experience into a (self-)formative journey.