As vivências e percep es dos actores na forma o inicial de professores: a figura do supervisor cooperante

This paper studies the experiences of cooperating teachers regarding the supervision of student teachers in their practicum year. A study was conducted with 155 cooperating teachers that have cooperated with four public universities in the school year of 2007/8. Their experience was studied with the instrument Inventory of Experiences and Perceptions of the Cooperating Teacher (IVPS in portuguese Esteves, Caires & Moreira, 2008). This instrument has 77 items and assesses three central domains of the cooperating teachers' experiences, i) benefits, ii) personal impact, and iii) difficulties in the adaptation to the supervisory tasks. It is our aim to investigate the extent in which the variables 'Scientific domain', 'Teaching years', 'Supervisory experience', and 'Specialized training in supervision differentiate the experiences and perceptions of the participants. Data collected point out the lack of impact of the first three variables and the influence of the last in the experiences and perceptions of the cooperating teachers.