Recent literature has shown the low levels of reflexivity student teachers exhibit when doing reflective writing and the lack of a training program in their initial training to help them. A training program that was developed to support future teachers’ reflective writing was implemented and the program’s results were evaluated. The program was based on a combination of theories from the fields of teacher training and writing instruction. The training program was offered to a class of 16 future primary school teachers in French-speaking Belgium (three males and 13 females, averaging 20 years old) who were in their final year of training. They rewrote a reflective text several times and the 64 texts produced were analyzed quantitatively. The results showed that the training program enabled participants to make major progress from one draft to another and thus improve their reflective writing skills. In addition, a qualitative single case study showed how one student’s writing evolved during the training program. Among the practical implications that emerged from this study were the recommendations to include time in the training curricula dedicated to the teaching of reflective writing and to train trainers to support the writing of reflective texts.

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In this paper, we present a critical reflection on the concept of social capital. We argue that there is no such idea of an umbrella concept of social capital. Instead, two overarching conceptualizations of social capital exist, namely individual social capital and collective social capital. As these conceptualizations of social capital are completely different, we emphasize that studies using social capital as a theoretical lens should clarify the concept as well as be consistent in the interpretation of the concept, from its definition to its methodological operationalization. In this article, we first map the two different conceptualizations of social capital. Next, these conceptualizations are illustrated with well-known teacher research studies, followed by examples of studies in which individual and collective social capital are mixed. Finally, we discuss the consequences of the use and the mix of these different conceptualizations in terms of measurement methods. Additionally, implications for teacher education are presented.

Cette étude présente la conception et le processus de validation d’un instrument de mesure de la socialisation au travail des enseignants débutants. Un total de 1487 enseignants de différents niveaux d’enseignement obligatoire ont été interrogés. Les fondations théoriques ainsi que les analyses factorielles exploratoires et confirmatoires mettent en évidence quatre dimensions de socialisation au travail : la socialisation au groupe de travail, au climat micropolitique, aux tâches d’enseignement ainsi qu’à l’organisation. L’instrument proposé présente, en respect de différents critères consensuels quant aux processus de validation d’échelles, des arguments de validité élevés. Cette contribution nourrit l’enjeu majeur d’une approche globalisante de l’insertion des enseignants qui va au-delà des approches centrées sur le travail de l’enseignant en classe.

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