ABSTRACT
The authors explain the historical challenges of Guatemala and the current educational landscape that is attempting to provide free and equitable education for its young people. The authors discuss the changes to teacher preparation programs over the last two decades that aim to improve teaching quality and the professionalism of its teachers. The focus of this case study is on the partnership program (The Inducción Docente program) between the Colegio Americano de Guatemala (CAG), or the American School of Guatemala and the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG). During the year that the teacher candidates are part of the program, they rotate to three different grade levels and work with three different mentors and teams of teachers and students. These three opportunities enrich the experience of the teacher candidates and help them to learn about different age groups of students, their varied needs, as well as different methodologies. There is no specific middle level professional development as part of the formal program and from a middle level perspective, one major challenge this program faces is the absence of specific training or education focused on middle level philosophy and development of young adolescents.
