The aim of this thesis is to promote a dialogue about constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996) with a particular focus on the use of reflective writing as an assessed task in courses of teacher education and the influence it has, or does not have, on teacher reflection and/or in improving practice. The work is set against a national context in which time to reflect is being written out of teacher education as a consequence of policy which locates ‘training’ to teach increasingly within the busy-ness of school life. Persuaded by principles of constructive alignment and, therefore, troubled by student teachers’ perceptions of complex assignments which appear to have little relevance to their practice as teachers, I have undertaken an action research study (McAteer, 2013; Norton, 2009; and Wells, 2001), beginning with a conviction that it is possible to design assessment tasks which truly integrate professional and academic requirements and influence the learning activity of student teachers in ways which are meaningful for their development as teachers. Using an adaptation of the Ward and McCotter (2004) ‘Reflection Rubric’ to locate characteristics of reflection within the reflective writing submitted for assessment, the study evaluated the relationship between written reflection and academic and professional attainment and found little evidence that engagement in the reflective writing assignment had contributed to the participants’ development as teachers. I conclude that the assessment strategies of students and of the course had been either not aligned or destructively aligned. The thesis narrates my journey to the adoption of a socio-constructivist perspective, leading to greater insight into the relationship between established assessment practice and the learning activity of student teachers, and a questioning of my practice. Crucially, the notion of a ‘framework for assessment’ is broadened to encompass all assignment-related activity, the people involved and the timeframe, in addition to the task and criteria. I conclude by identifying a desire to know more about the national view of assessment in teacher education, seeking a network of colleagues in order to explore ways in which counterparts in other institutions are supporting student teachers to develop reflective practice and assess reflective writing.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The following paper conveys the Researching Approach of Formation, knowledge, and Professional Development (PPGE/CE/UFSM) and aimed to analyze how students of Majoring of Physical Education at the CEFD/UFSM featuring reflections about their teaching practice in disciplines Supervised Internship I, II and III, and the relation of these skills to the processes of reflexivity. This research was justified by the importance of understanding how the training courses of physical education teachers in our country are adapting to the current reforms in the structures curriculum from the enactment of the National Curriculum Guidelines for Teacher Training Basic Education and National Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate course in Majoring of Physical Education, as well as emphasize the need for reflective teaching to be ingrained throughout the curriculum of teacher education, so that future teachers feel encouraged to reflect critically about their actions as teachers. The methodological approaches that have been adopted followed the assumptions of a qualitative approach case study. The field study was the Center for Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Santa Maria, with information gathered through the analysis of semi-structured interviews with six scholars who have held each of the disciplines of Supervised Internship I, II and III Degree in Physical Education, and these research participants. To interpret the information collected was used content analysis. It was concluded from this study that the degree in Majoring of Physical Education from CEFD/UFSM is characterized by elements that serve to have a sense of how this course or not influences the quality of future teachers actions that are embedded in it, so that academics to realize its real function as teachers attribute this to its identification as prone educators prior to joining the course, arising from positive experiences when they were students of Basic Education. Regarding the development of the course, which was identified both some disciplines that address knowledge, sometimes far removed from reality school, as the methodologies of some teachers, who still comes from a technical education, no help to a teacher training quality. And as for educational activities, specifically in Curricular Supervised I, II and III, it was deduced that the reflective process is done before, during and after these interventions through teaching so that it is acquired knowledge to base future actions that can teachers. Still, the development of this "thinking about" teaching actions, some aspects (strategies) provided a better analysis of teaching practices so that they can be resignified for the union between theory and practice is characterized as being in a constant search development activities of the teaching-learning process in schools. / Este estudo está inserido na Linha de Pesquisa Formação, Saberes e Desenvolvimento Profissional (PPGE/CE/UFSM) e teve como objetivo analisar como os acadêmicos do curso de Licenciatura em Educação Física do CEFD/UFSM caracterizam as reflexões acerca da sua prática pedagógica, nas disciplinas de Estágio Curricular Supervisionado I, II e III, e a relação dessas qualificações com os processos de reflexividade. Esta pesquisa justificou-se pela importância de compreendermos como os cursos de formação de professores de Educação Física em nosso país estão se adequando às atuais reformas realizadas nas estruturas curriculares a partir da promulgação das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para a Formação de Professores da Educação Básica e das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o curso de Graduação em Educação Física, bem como enfatizarmos sobre a necessidade de o ensino reflexivo estar arraigado ao longo do currículo dos cursos de formação inicial de professores, a fim de que os futuros docentes sintam-se instigados a refletirem criticamente sobre suas ações como docentes. Os caminhos metodológicos que foram adotados seguiram os pressupostos da abordagem qualitativa do tipo estudo de caso. O campo de estudo foi o Centro de Educação Física e Desportos da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, com as informações coletadas através da análise de entrevistas semi-estruturadas feitas com seis acadêmicos que já realizaram cada uma das disciplinas de Estágio Curricular Supervisionado I, II e III do curso de Licenciatura em Educação Física. Para interpretar as informações coletadas utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo. Concluímos com este estudo que a Licenciatura em Educação Física do CEFD/UFSM está caracterizada por elementos que servem para termos uma noção de como este curso influencia ou não na qualidade das ações dos futuros professores que nele estão inseridos, de modo que os acadêmicos ao perceberem a sua real função como professores atribuem isto à sua propensa identificação como educadores anteriormente ao ingresso no curso, advinda de experiências positivas que tiveram quando alunos da Educação Básica. Em relação ao desenvolvimento do curso, foi identificado que tanto algumas disciplinas, que abordam conhecimentos, por vezes, muito distantes da realidade escolar, quanto as metodologias de alguns professores, que ainda advém de um ensino técnico, não auxiliam para uma formação docente de qualidade. E, quanto às ações educativas, especificamente nos Estágios Curriculares Supervisionados I, II e III, deduziu-se que o processo reflexivo é realizado antes, durante e após estas intervenções pedagógicas de modo que através disto adquire-se conhecimentos que podem embasar futuras atuações docentes. Ainda, no desenvolvimento deste pensar sobre as ações docentes, alguns aspectos (estratégias) proporcionaram uma melhor análise das práticas pedagógicas a fim de que as mesmas possam ser ressignificadas para que a união entre teoria e prática se caracterize como sendo uma busca constante no desenvolvimento das atividades do processo de ensino aprendizagem no âmbito escolar.