On 30 June 2026, the Centre for Research in Education and Development (CeiED) organised the First Conference on Teacher Training – Teaching Bridges: dialogues between teacher training, trainee teachers and practising teachers, with the aim of promoting reflection on the role of each stakeholder in the teacher training process and strengthening the links between the university and schools. This first conference brought together programme directors, academic staff, partner teachers and students from all the Master’s programmes in education at Lusófona University – both those currently running and those already undergoing the accreditation process – as well as from the Manuel Teixeira Gomes Higher Institute in Portimão.

The conference featured three panel discussions: the first, entitled ‘The Triad of Training’; the second, ‘Common Framework for Teacher Training’; and, finally, the third panel, ‘What unites us?’. The event was also attended by Professor Ana Isabel Andrade, who took part as a keynote speaker, delivering a lecture entitled ‘Challenges of Clinical and Pedagogical Supervision’. In addition, two workshops were held: the first, ‘Guidance and Action Research Practices’; and the second, ‘The School Environment: Management, Settings and Innovation’.

Throughout the conference, a central message emerged: initial teacher training requires coherence and high standards, but above all, meaningful training initiatives that give purpose to learning to teach and foster a professional identity capable of responding to real, complex and changing contexts. In this context, the importance of training guided by purpose, commitment to the profession, the transformation of educational contexts and accountability was emphasised, at a time when the system faces structural challenges that make it all the more important to clarify what is essential and common to teacher training.

The presentations also highlighted the complexity of teachers’ professional knowledge, understood as knowledge that is constructed and reconstructed over time, bringing together knowledge of subject content, pupils, the curriculum, school organisation, the social context and professional identity itself. In this context, the tensions associated with accreditation and qualification processes were discussed, with emphasis placed on the importance of ensuring coherent training pathways that avoid shortcomings in the preparation of future teachers.

Supervised practice and teaching placements were presented as central elements of teacher professionalisation, reinforcing the need for a solid partnership between universities and schools, as well as structured processes for welcoming and supporting students. Strategies such as classroom observation, feedback, reflective writing, collaborative work and the development of pedagogical research skills were also highlighted, with particular emphasis placed on the importance of professional supervisory dialogue and the conditions necessary for this to take place effectively.

Another key topic was the common framework for teacher training at Lusófona University, presented as a unifying element across the various master’s degree programmes in education. In this context, shared objectives of the training were discussed, such as the development of a professional teaching identity, the relational and human dimension of care, the ability to adapt to different placement contexts, and the promotion of research and innovation as integral aspects of the teaching profession. The need for common tools to structure, monitor and evaluate training processes was also emphasised.

Finally, the importance of the teaching placement report was emphasised as a tool for building professional knowledge, linking practice, reflection and the production of knowledge. In this context, the need to recognise the role of supervising teachers in the process of teacher professionalisation was further emphasised, as was the need to strengthen collaborative networks between schools and universities, promoting high-quality supervised practice, underpinned by a common framework and a vision of teaching that is committed, humane, adaptive and intellectually demanding.