Embodied Teaching Journals as an Instrument for Reflection and Self-evaluation During the Teaching Practicum

Abstract

In this article we defend the importance of the body in the comprehension of schools and education, as opposed to the predominant approach in initial teacher training that prioritizes a technical and academic vision and leaves the body of the teacher in the background. The main objective is to show how embodied teaching journals allow students in their initial training to discover and explore some of their body dimensions and their use in teaching. The article adopts a qualitative methodology to understand the perceptions of seven future physical education teachers about the usefulness of the embodied journals as an instrument of reflection and formative evaluation. The results demonstrate how the embodied teaching journals serve as a link between educators’ pedagogical and corporal dimensions beginning with their first contacts with the profession. Likewise, they show the way in which the journals serve as a tool for formative assessment, especially given that they have a significant relationship with the rest of the courses in the degree, most notably with the practicum.