Initial teacher training in initial literacy. Honduras

This study presents the results of the research carried out by the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán and examines the training that teachers of initial literacy receive in Honduras. The research is part of a regional study developed by the Red para la Lectoescritura Inicial de Centroamérica y el Caribe [Network for Initial Literacy in Central America and the Caribbean – RedLEI] in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

One research objective was to answer three questions, namely: how does the initial teacher training curriculum align with the most recent evidence on successful literacy learning and teaching? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the region's initial teacher training curriculum in terms of initial literacy, with respect to current evidence on teaching literacy? Finally, how does the prescribed initial teacher training curriculum differ from the curriculum that is actually applied to teach initial literacy to trainee teachers?

Among the main weaknesses identified by the study was the absence of a theoretical approach to teaching initial literacy; in other words, a lack of consensus on what reading and writing is and how it is taught. Another weakness identified was a lack of in-depth analysis into child development and assessment, which limits the teacher's knowledge around how learning takes place, what the best context for learning is, and how to measure learning and improve teaching practice based on assessment. The study concludes that the initial training received by teachers of initial literacy is deficient by design and contains numerous inconsistencies. The curriculum, therefore, needs to be restructured by specialists towards an approach that is more aligned with the evidence.