Picturing Teaching: Juggling with the Good, the Ugly and the Puzzling

This article attempts to analyze the “pedagogical imagination” of a large group of teacher education students in Argentina. The data used for this project was collected following a qualitative approach and by using a novel technique that combines drawing, writing and talking about the reality of classrooms and what should be (in the imagination of these students), the configuration of ideal classrooms. This article will argue that in order to improve the pre-service training of teachers we need to have a better understanding of what teaching is in the imagination of these students, and how these prospective teachers struggle while attempting to re-create their professional identities. This article will also argue that it is crucial that researchers and practitioners concerned with reforming teacher education explore not only the structural, cultural, political and historical structures of teacher education programs (and the teaching profession) but also to the realm of emotions and feelings, paying special attention to the gender regimes of teacher training programs.