Training students in developing and applying innovative teaching strategies

This paper aims to highlight several theoretical and practical guidelines for training students to develop and apply teaching strategies. The first part of the paper provides conceptual clarifications related to the strategies applied in class, referring to definitions, constituent elements of strategies, and parameters to be considered when developing teaching strategies. We believe that any student preparing to become a teacher needs a solid and clear theoretical foundation to be able to correctly apply specialized concepts. The practical model we propose in the second part of the paper focuses on undergraduate students majoring in Pedagogy and Primary and Preschool Education. Within the course and seminar activities, we create contexts for students to develop and apply original teaching strategies, encouraging them to propose innovative, alternative, and creative ways of carrying out the educational act. Being in the initial training stage, it is important for students to start investing early in the development of the professional skills necessary for a teaching career, with a particular emphasis on the applicability of knowledge. Thus, under the guidance of the teacher, students are familiarized with working structures and are oriented towards researching different possibilities for combining teaching methods, discovering different educational resources, and then sharing examples of good practices with their colleagues.