Presentation Schedule
Argumentation in Initial Teacher Education: University Instructors’ Explanations (105013)
Session Chair: Yahya Alharbi
Saturday, 11 July 2026 16:05
Session: Session 5
Room: UCL Torrington, G10 (Ground Floor)
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
In the current post-truth context—marked by misinformation and eroded trust in scientific knowledge (Towler, 2025)—higher education must prepare future teachers capable of critical thinking (Puig et al., 2023). Although critical thinking is recognized as a key learning outcome (Bellaera et al., 2021), its development is complex (Darcie et al., 2024). Argumentation is a central pathway to foster it (Aarar & Pérez, 2025), yet its systematic integration into initial teacher education is limited, partly due to transmissive teaching approaches that restrict opportunities for argumentative dialogue (Borge et al., 2020). Little is known about how teacher educators’ subjective theories contribute to this gap. This study aims to reconstruct the subjective theories held by teacher educators regarding argumentative skills and practices in initial teacher education. A qualitative grounded theory study was conducted with 15 university instructors at a Chilean public university. Data were generated through interviews and analysed using grounded theory coding. The findings show strong consensus regarding the educational, civic relevance of argumentation, alongside a perception of limited argumentative proficiency among students. Instructors’ explanations cluster into three domains: (a) macro sociocultural factors, such as conflict avoidance and inequalities in students’ cultural capital; (b) institutional and curricular conditions, including the absence of argumentation in learning outcomes and predominance of expository teaching; and (c) emotional and power dynamics in the classroom, linked to fear of exposure, assessment, and asymmetries between instructors and students. A theoretical model is proposed and implications for formative interventions to integrate argumentation into teacher education curricula are discussed.
Authors:
Ingrid González-Palta, Universidad de La Serena, Chile
Pablo Castro, Universidad de La Serena, Chile
About the Presenter(s)
Mr Ingrid González-Palta is a University Doctoral Student at Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Chile
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