The Relationship Between Pre-Professional Practicums and the Development of Pedagogical Performance Among University Students in Teacher Education Programs

Abstract

Pre-professional practicum is a structural component of initial teacher education because it articulates university knowledge with the situated complexity of classrooms, school culture, and the ethical demands of the teaching profession. In Latin America, this link is especially relevant due to persistent gaps in educational quality, equity, and pertinence that require teachers capable of planning, mediating, assessing, researching, and critically reflecting on their own pedagogical intervention. This article aimed to critically analyze the relationship between pre-professional practicum and the development of pedagogical performance in university students enrolled in teacher education programs, within the context of Latin American higher education. Methodologically, a documentary literature review was carried out with emphasis on scientific literature published during the last five years, prioritizing indexed articles, empirical studies, systematic reviews, academic books, reports from international organizations, and verifiable institutional documents. The findings suggest that the relationship between practicum and pedagogical performance is neither automatic nor merely cumulative, but depends on the quality of tutorial support, curricular coherence between universities and schools, opportunities for collaborative reflection, formative assessment, situated research, and institutional conditions that enable professional learning. It is concluded that pre-professional practicum strengthens pedagogical performance when it is no longer conceived as an administrative requirement and is structured as an integral, reflective, and contextualized formative device.