Evaluation of impact of initial psychopedagogical training in the Bachelor of Physical Culture in Cuba

Abstract

Because of being a pedagogical career, the initial psychopedagogical training of Physical Education graduates in Cuba is carried out within the curriculum of the Physical Activity Psychopedagogy discipline. This is both pertinent and justified, but there are few scientific criteria on the effective contribution of its formative impact based on empirical research. The objective of this article is, on the one hand, to evaluate the impact of initial psychopedagogical training addressed to Physical Education professionals by using the satisfaction criteria of graduates and teachers through individual and group interviews, based on qualitative methodology. On the one hand, graduates expressed their positive and negative assessments, while teachers identified the strengths and weaknesses of the discipline they teach. Some agreements were found on some aspects, especially those related to the need for mandatory further training so that they will effectively contribute to the integration of psychopedagogical knowledge for the practice of the profession and the research training as part of the continuous qualitative improvement of the training process. The limited sample of investigated subjects justifies the continuity of research on this issue through the incorporation of new criteria provided by other graduates and teachers as part of the necessary feedback on the quality of the career´s initial training process