Theory, practice and relation in nurse and teacher education

Abstract

This article is the result of a research that aims to understand how the theory-practice relationship
is structured in teacher and nurse education and how the relational dimension permeates such professions. This qualitative research focused the interpretative analysis of the meanings and
representations of nurse and teacher education students about their initial training. In this context,
we heard the voices of some students of three higher education institutions, two in Portugal and one in Spain, through focused group interviews in order to understand their perceptions on these matters. The analysis of their speeches brought about tensions and ambiguities in students’ perception about the relationship between theory and practice. Despite the higher valuation of practices, we found that the theory is nonetheless recognized as very important. The dimension of help also comes with great force in the speeches of students, who recognize it as essential to the profession in particular in nursing and in early childhood education.