Reforming Practicum and Research Training in a Colombian English Teaching Program

Over the last two years, the Ministry of Education in Colombia tightened the quality conditions that all teacher education programs must attain in order to operate within the law. In this chapter, the authors present a case study that assessed a curriculum reform implemented by an English teaching program at a private university in response to these government requirements. The study specifically focused on the nature and impact of the modifications made to the program’s practicum and research training components. Data collection consisted in two phases. The first one involved a documentary analysis of (a) the policies restructuring teacher education and (b) the programs’ previous and latest study plans. The second one entailed a series of semi-structured interviews to five participants selected through key-informant and critical-case sampling. The analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of credits allocated to practicum and research training as well as the intentional articulation between them. These changes may reconfigure the student teachers’ practices and teaching identities. However, for this reform to produce the desired effects, the program needs to foster a new research-based culture among all its members.