We present a research project on the construction of professional knowledge at the initial teacher education for primary school teachers (financed by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness during 2012-2015). It is rooted in the exploration of an essential research problem for making decisions regarding the teacher education curriculum. Perhaps like no other, this problem testifies to the increasing complexity of being a teacher in the so-called knowledge societies and economies. At the same time, it offers the opportunity for exploring the answers provided by new undergraduate degree programs to future teachers in order to deal competently with the ever increasingly social demands placed upon the teaching profession at all levels.

The construction of professional knowledge is an issue of continuing interest for research on teacher education, approached from different theoretical and methodological perspectivas. And it is of great value due to the dynamics of what it means to be a teacher at each historical moment; the multidimensionality of professional knowledge, as well as the changing interests of policies on research and teacher education (Ben-Peretz, 2011; Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Grant, 2008; Feiman-Nemser, 2008; Montero 2001; Munby, Russell & Martin, 2001).

The international literature clearly reflects the key role of initial teacher education in shaping the professional identity of teachers and the idea that professional development should be the goal of any training activity (Cochran-Smith, Feiman-Nemser y McIntyre, 2008; Hudson, Zgaga y  Astrand, 2010). Neglecting either would mean decreasing teachers’ competence to face the challenges of practicing their profession in a changing and uncertain world. In this sense, the concepts of activity, continuous learning and reconstruction of professional knowledge should be pillars of the teacher education curriculum and key aspects for interpreting processes and results.

However, the valuation and devaluation of initial teacher education remains a recurring theme in research on teacher education. For some authors (Goodwin, 2008; Hansen 2008), the explanation lies in the difficulties in defining the purpose of it, because, like any other educational enterprise is driven by values that are not shared by all actors involved in its definition (politicians, educational administration, universities, researchers). It is important to note that over time there has been a continuing dilemma between the significance of initial teacher education, formal training as inexcusable and therefore the need for it to have a comparable level of quality other professions most prestigious, and the denial of that value with proposals aimed at disrespecting and even elimination. In this game of contrasts on the value of the initial teacher education, there are also certain visions criticism that attributing the evils of the teaching profession to insufficient training is a hackneyed cliché and poorly proven to work as a kind of alibi (Romero and Luis, 2007).

In this framework, this project aims to identify, analyze and interpret the perceptions of future teachers and teacher educators regarding the knowledge being built while carrying out the curriculum for the degree in primary teacher education and how this knowledge contributes to professional identity. The focus will be on the analysis of the knowledge that is implicated in the so-called basic, generic, or cross-sectional competencies (depending on the source consulted), whether they be posed by the European Commission (2004-2006) or the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) university harmonization process.

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