The pedagogical training of teachers assumes a predominant role in the quality of the educational process that must be assumed in public education policies. Whether in the initial or continuing training of secondary school teachers or higher education, how teachers take ownership and manage the curriculum and, according to Yürekli Kaynardağ (2019), implement pedagogical practices, influence the quality of the teaching process and learning.

In higher education, the quality of teaching practices in initial teacher education is of particular importance, as these teachers who teach to teach will be an example for future teachers. To this end, teacher educators need to understand the way multiple human, material, and non-tangible elements connect and interact in the classroom, in practice, and dynamic relationship between teaching and learning (Hordvik, MacPhail, and Ronglan, 2020).

On the other hand, online teaching experience during the COVID19 pandemic brought new challenges in curriculum management and pedagogical practices in higher education in most countries around the world. Regarding possible education response, the following stand out: The need to maintain frequent and regular communication among students to foster mutual learning and well-being, ensure devices and connectivity to students, re-prioritize curriculum goals, and define what should be learned during the period of social distancing. It is critical to provide teachers with access to resources and online platforms and promote professional development for teachers and for parents to be able to support learners (OECD, 2020).

Thus, it appears the importance of ensuring that students develop critical skills, manage time effectively, skills to learn online and become self-directed learners, and engage in group learning activities. A robust student support technology service with a strengthened Internet bandwidth is crucial (COL, 2020).

This article aims to i) present and compare the curriculum and study plans of two initial teacher training programs in Portugal and Spain and ii) analyze how their pedagogical practices are developed, particularly about the use of technologies digital and online education.

The analyzed programs will be exemplified with two cases: The Master’s in Economics and Accounting Teaching at the University of Lisbon and the University Master's Degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, Professional Training and Language Teaching from the Complutense University of Madrid.

These masters have a differentiated curriculum, since the first is specific to a scientific area with some disciplines common with other Master’s in Teaching in other specific areas, while the second is unified, presenting as an option the specific disciplines of the scientific area.

Pedagogical practices, especially during the Covid19 pandemic, have undergone significant changes with the use of online teaching, with the necessary adaptations to the curricula and how they learn and teach. We cannot go back to the world as it was before, stressing the relevance of understanding education as a common good, considering the right to education, the value of the teaching profession, and teacher collaboration and availability of technologies to students and teachers (UNESCO, 2020).

Thus, this study aims to analyze two different formats of initial teacher training at the level of the defined curricula, how pedagogical practices are currently developed in these programs, and their repercussions in the use of online teaching.

To study this issue, the qualitative case study approach supported in the masters of access to the profession of teachers was used, specifically in the Master’s in Economics and Accounting Teaching at the University of Lisbon and in the University Master's Degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, Professional Training and Language Teaching from the Complutense University of Madrid. These master's degrees are a necessary condition for teaching in secondary education, but it is not enough, and it is mandatory to have completed a degree or higher education in the specific scientific area in advance. The use of comparative case studies is related to the fact that we can analyze similarities, differences, and patterns across two cases, allowing us to describe and analyze situations and contexts that can contribute to the study of the training programs in question (Yin, 2011). One of the main advantages of case studies is that they observe effects in a real context, recognizing that context is a powerful determinant of both causes and effects (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000). They also allow, through participant observation, that researchers are used as “research tools and data collection” (Yin, 2011, p.122). It is also assumed that diversified data collection methods are used (Cohen et al., 2000), so documentary analysis based on the legislation that fits these masters in Portugal and Spain will be carried out with a focus on their prerequisites, curriculum structure, study plans, specialties, curricular units, and professional practice. It is also foreseen the possibility of making field visits with a participant and non-participant observation of classes to identify and analyze implemented pedagogical practices, namely about the use of digital technologies and online teaching.

As result, it is intended to obtain a characterization of the masters of access to the teaching profession in secondary education in two European countries and to analyze the way their curricula and pedagogical practices are developed in the initial teacher education programs in higher education. I would also like to conclude about the effects of the Covid19 pandemic on pedagogical practices, namely in terms of the use of digital technologies and online teaching. It seems that its use in higher education allows to motivate, engage and facilitate student-based Education and have a positive effect on teaching practices and that they can improve the teachers ’own teaching practices (Mei, Aas, & Medgard, 2019).

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