Presentation

We would like to welcome you to the Teaching Practicum II of the Degree of Early Childhood and Primary Education at the International University of La Rioja, based on observation, description and analysis of the center and the learning-teachings processes.

Practices have an important role for university students training because they represent a greay opportunity for, among other training possibilities, the acquisition and exercise of the competences related to the degree.

Teaching practice doesn’t have a working character, but academic. The main aim is the knowledge of the institutional, education and labor reality and at the same time, to achieve a valuable professional experience.

Practices in these educational centers are mandatory and are meant to obtain an edifying experience in public and private entities that allow you to apply your previous knowledge and expand your aptitudes as a future teacher.

The development of the teaching practice will be tutored by the tutor of the center where the student is doing the teaching practice and by the university teacher.

The duration of the Teaching Practicum II, means an on-site stay of 185 hours during the period established by the academic degree.

External practices will give you the opportunity to assess, in real conditions, the acquired competences during the profesional development in your training during the degree.

During the teaching practice period in the center you have been assigned we expect you to be able to teach in any of these instrumental subjects (Mathematics, Language or Second Language):

Basic Competences

• CB2. Know how to apply all the knowledge to work or vocation in a professional way and possess all the competences that are usually proved through the ellaboration and defence of the arguments and problem solving in your field of study.
• R.A.1. Identify and assess the different situations in the class through acquired knowledge of the different subjects.
• Be able to transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions to a specialized and a non-specialized audience.
• Argue in a coherent way your teaching experience

General Competences

• CG1. Know the curricular areas in Primary Education, the interdisciplinar relation between them, evaluation criteria and the core of didactic knowledge around the learning teaching and learning procedures, respectively.
• Identify the model of learning and teaching, both individually and cooperating with other teachers and professionals of the center.
• Design, plan and assess the teaching learning processes, both individually and cooperating with other teachers and professionals of the center.
• R.A.1. Value the teaching learning processes applied to the teacher in the teaching practice classroom.
• Acquire practical knowledge in the different subjects.
• Understand and reflect on the impact of ICT on the society and the culture of the students.
• CE60. Know and apply the interaction and communication processes in the classroom and master the social skills, necessary to foster a good atmosphere in the classroom that eases the learning and coexistence.

Specific Competences

• R.A.2. Design communication strategies that easen communication between students.
• CE61. Control and follow the education process and particularly the learning-teaching through the control of the necessary techniques and strategies.
• R.A.1. Elaborate an observation diary that gathers and assesses the different experiences observed in the teaching practice classroom.
• CE62. Relate theory and practice with the reality of the classroom and the center.
• Apply the remarkable aspects of the educational process in the classroom and argue the affimations from the acquired knowledge in the different subjects.
• Participate in the proposal for improvement in the different scopes of action that can be established in the center.
• Collaborate with the programmed activities in the classroom according to the defined tasks and agreed with the teacher of the center.
• CE66. Know different ways of collaboration with the different sectors of the teaching community and the social environment.
• R.A.1. Identify the mechanisms to cooperate according to the defined tasks and agreed by the teacher of the center.

Since in this process there are several educational institutions involved, it is necessary to perform a series of bureaucratic and academic procedures in order that the teaching practice can be properly completed. They are summarized in the following steps and subjected to the information provided by the Teaching Practice Department at the time of making the arrangements with the centre:

• Step 0: Centres Request Form. The student must submit a proposal for schools that because of affinity, proximity or interest will be of their interest to carry out the teaching practice there. It is mandatory to deliver this document correctly and before the deadline through the Teaching Practice classroom.
• Step 1: Agreement. Based on the Ministry of Education in each region. This information is provided by the Department of Internship to the Tutors and students themselves directly so they can perform their centres proposal correctly.
• Step 2: Annex of acceptance. Once the collaboration between the centre and UNIR is agreed, the Department of Internship will contact the students to inform them that can then go to the centre to agree with the tutor designated the dates and timetable of their practices (within the established period.) When both parties are satisfied, the student will proceed to fill all the fields in the "Annex of acceptance" and had to be signed by both the student, and the tutor and sealed by the school centre. At this point, the student shall send the original document by mail to the Department of Internship of UNIRpracticas.educacion@unir.net before starting the internship. This document is mandatory to validate the teaching practice.
• Step 3: Evaluation Form (once the student completes the stay in the centre.) Before the student completed their stay at the centre, the Department of Internship will send to the tutor the internship evaluation form that will contain several fields to fill by email. Once completed, it must be sent, signed and sealed by the centre scanned in PDF format, before the deadline, by email to the person responsible of the degree in the Department of Internship. This document is mandatory to validate teaching practice.
• Step 4. Certificate of tutorial action in pedagogical practices. At the end of the internship the tutor of the centre will receive a certificate from UNIR, through which he can prove the actions of guidance and tutoring of the student to educational institutions, for possible future public and private processes in that teacher could participate.

The different tasks and activities programmed during the semester have been developed with the goal of adapting the learning process to the different capabilities, necessities and interests of the students. 
The resources you have at your disposal for this subject are:

• Virtual Classroom: it is recommended to the students, to follow the subject, to access the Virtual Classroom (on the Internet). Once inside the virtual classroom, he can participate in discussion forums, attend virtual sessions of Digital TV and communicate with the teachers. The link to access the virtual classroom is: http://www.unir.net
• Practicum Guide. It is the guide you are consulting right now. It includes information you need for a better understanding of the subject along with guidelines that will be useful to organize your study time.

The subject of teaching practices features several characters:

• Student: the main agent in the development of the subject, who will have to develop personally the stay in the centre assigned by UNIR and also the assessment activities reflected in their classroom.

• UNIR teacher tutor: Each student at the University has a tutor that, throughout the course, advises and makes sure that he has the necessary support during the teaching practice. The tutor is the link between the student and the various departments of the University.

• Teaching practices Professor-Academic Tutor: we talk about the UNIR professor expert in the subject that will teach the subject. He develops virtual sessions, gives dynamism to the forums, monitors the centres and assesses the students.

• External Tutor: in each company or entity, the student has a person who will perform their monitoring throughout the internship and will be responsible for their care and training. At the end of the teaching practice he will have to submit an assessment on the student’s performance.

• Teaching Practice Department: they are responsible for making the management of the centres for the teaching practices of students, training the UNIR teacher and tutor and monitoring the teaching practices. They are the reference persons for any questions on the management of the centers, company data and contact persons of the organizations and for incidents that may arise in the development of the teaching practices in the centres.
  

The hours dedicated to each activity are detailed as follows:

During the completion of the practice, it is intended to apply in an efficient way the knolwedge you have acquired until now, in a center. You can rely on a tutor of external practices who is in charge of supervising the correct development of the tasks assigned and keep the agreed relationships with the designated tutor of UNIR; both settled into cooperation, ensure the appropriate training of the students. The tasks to be carried out as a student will be fixed by the tutor of the external practice and will adapt to the peculiarities of each center without losing sight of accomplishing the following objectives:

• Cooperate in the development of projects or tasks assigned inside the specific deparment.
• Participate in the planning of the activities in the classroom.
• Participate in the activities of the inner subjects according the specialisation field as regards to the detected requirements.

For all this to happen and to develop it in an adequate way, the functions to develop on the part of the student, the tutor of the center and the professor of UNIR, are the following.

Commitments to the center

• Assign a tutor responsible for the practical preparation of the student.
• Welcome the student and provide him information, as much as possible, about the general functioning of the center (schedules, participation, classroom locations and everything the student will need for the good progress of the practicum).
• Inform the student about his teaching work related to the group or groups he will be working with during his stay: student’s profile, contents, didactic material, methodology, activities, assessment and everything the student finds will be necessary.
• Check up and approve the initial syllabus that will bring the student to his classroom.
• Supervise the assisstance, the attitude, the participation and the student’s performance.
• Inform the student, as much as possible, about his profesional experience.
• Assess the competences acquired by the student during the Practicum. The percentage of the assessment of each Practicum will be registered in the teaching guides and in the questionnaires that the Internship Department will have to send him. 

Tasks of the UNIR Professor

• Phone contact with every tutor of the Teaching Center.
• Give on-site virtual sessions for every Practicum.
• Give orientation, motivation and guide academically the students through the forum and the group on-site virtual sessions.
• Inform, as much as possible the student about his profesional experience.
• Assess the competences acquired by the student during the Practicum.

 

Activity	Assessment	%
Teaching practice	Tutor	40%
Tasks and Teaching report	UNIR professor	60%

The assessment is carried out during all the teaching practice process. Therefore, to do the rating, pursued by the preparation, follow-up and final report will have to be sent through the virtual classroom in the section of Activities to send during the required date.

In the assessment the tutor of external practice and the professor of UNIR will take part. The final mark will depend on the following criteria:

• Formal aspects (punctuality, attendance, etc.).
• Attitudinal aspects (motivation, interest, will to learn, etc…)
• Fulfillment of due dates and conditions for the final report.
• Structure, presentation and writing of the final report.
• Deepen and quality of the report.

From the percentage of the assessment of the UNIR professor (60%), 50 % correspond to a final report and 10% to an active, reflexive and critical participation of the proposed activities. It is mandatory to pass the evaluation of the tutor center to pass the subject, as well as sending the final report, to pass the subject.

Assessment of the center	Activities in the classroom	Final report
4 points maximum	1 point maximum	5 points maximum

The final report is an exam of the subject, in a work format, that you will hand out through the virtual classroom in the activity and corresponding date.

Therefore if you get 7 points adding the assessment center and the activities in the classroom the subject is not passed if you have not passed with at least a 5 (weighted 2.5 points) the final report.

In this respect, it is required that you should obtain at least 5 points out of 10 in the assessment of the tutor of the center and 5 points out of 10 in the assessment of the practices in order to pass the subject.

Activity 1. Analysis of the practice	0.7 points
Forum	0.2 points
Attendance to on-site virtual sessions	0.1 points
Tutor assessment	4 points
Final report assessment	5 points

External practice represent the ideal situation to assess the acquisition of the achieved knowledge throughout the degree and the professional competences related to the degree.

Below there are some considerations that might be useful for the students during the teaching placement and that are part of their training:

• Show sense of responsibility.
• Help the school get adapted to your incorporation during your placement.
• Be creative and show initiative.
• Be thankful for all the time spent on you.
• Puntuality, in all aspects.
• Show interest in all the areas related to this work environment and the teaching practice.
• Respect the activity that each person performs in their area.
• Be careful when it comes to making judgements.
• Analysing, reflecting and possible criticism are aspects that will be argued on the teaching practice report.
• Be discrete when commenting on any aspect that has been relied on you.

Centres
Andalucía	Almería, Granada, Málaga, Cádiz, Sevilla, Huelva, Córdoba y Jaén	Without an official agreement	Private
Aragón	Huesca, Zaragoza, Teruel	Without an official agreement	Private
Asturias	Asturias	Without an official agreement	Private
Baleares	Baleares	With agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Canarias	Santa Cruz de Tenerife y Las Palmas	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Cantabria	Cantabria	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Castilla León	León, Palencia, Burgos, Zamora, Valladolid, Soria, Segovia, Salamanca, Ávila	Without an official agreement	Private
Castilla La Mancha	Guadalajara, Toledo, Cuenca, Ciudad Real y Albacete	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Cataluña	Barcelona, Tarragona, Lérida y Gerona	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Extremadura	Cáceres y Badajoz	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Galicia	La Coruña, Lugo, Orense y Pontevedra	Without an official agreement	Private
La Rioja	La Rioja	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Madrid	Madrid	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Murcia	Murcia	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Navarra	Navarra	With an official agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
País Vasco	Álava, Vizcaya y Guipúzcoa	With an agreement	Public, private and state-subsidized
Valencia	Castellón, Valencia y Alicante	Without an official agreement	Private
Ceuta y Melilla	Ceuta y Melilla	Without an official agreement	Private