Reflective peer coaching in the Practicum of teacher training

This research is about the utility of reflective peer coaching as an instrument of professional learning in the Practicum of teacher training and was carried out in the form of a research-action project. The hypotheses are based on the proposition that peer coaching: a) can be a source of emotional support; b) can provide help in the reflection and construction of "practical theory" processes within a framework of non-threatening trust, and c) can offer the opportunity of learning to cooperate with colleagues. Peer coaching was applied to 33 students of the teacher training Practicum in two modalities, which were carried out one day per week: a) mutual peer observation of the teaching being given, and b) meeting of critical friends to analyze problems, pedagogic situations, etc. In order to find out the students' point of view (the object of this research), data collection was based on the reports sent by the students to their tutors. The reports were subjected to the content analysis technique. The results indicate that students value highly both modalities of coaching in the direction pointed at by our hypotheses. We join the authors who recommend the systematic inclusion of reflexive peer coaching in the teacher training Practicum. We propose it as a supplementary strategy, without it either substituting individual reflection on the teaching or the work of the tutor in the university and in the classroom. The results, whilst encouraging more research in this field, suggest the need for research into the potential of peer collaboration in the Practicum of other professions in the field of education and in other areas.