Initial training, is it the front door to the professional development?

Abstract

This work tries to make clear the relevance and significance of initial teacher education as a very outstanding open door to professional development of teachers, inquiring resultant implications and consequences which derive from accepting this point of view. Also, this article analyses the conceptual and structural obstacles that, in my opinion, make it difficult to put into practice this point of view if we consider the present situation of initial teacher education in our context. The identification of in-service teacher education with professional development has frequently supposed a kind of marginalization on the role of initial teacher education in the continuing process of professional development of teachers. Is perhaps the pendulum law the best characterisation of the present situation of teacher education?