Self-perception of novice students of pedagogies related to the vocation and pedagogical talent

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to characterize the self-perception on talent and teaching vocation of first year students of Teaching Programs in Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC). The study has a quantitative and descriptive approach. In order to collect the data, the Pedagogical Talent and Vocation Scale (VTS) was applied to 499 students, which is equivalent to the 2018 first-year students admitted in Teaching Programs. The results corroborate that, in the first place, empathy and tolerance emerge as relevant factors for first year students, and secondly, they recognize the "professional role" as a dynamic and influential phenomenon regarding their teaching vocation. Regarding teaching talent, adjectives associated with cognitive and social skills were identified, highlighting the need and importance of empathy and reflexivity in relation to their interaction or the way they relate to the social environment, associating these adjectives with factors that would allow the success and efficiency of teaching activities in development.