Access to the teaching civil service in Secondary Education: a study of the strategies used by candidates from the province of Gipuzkoa

Access to the teaching civil service in the Spanish state has a long and wide-reaching tradition. The official examination system, as an access procedure for the teaching profession, became established in the last century. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse the strategies used by secondary teachers from the province of Gipuzkoa in the access tests for the teaching civil service.. A mixed design combined in two stages was considered. Initially, a closed questionnaire was given to participants in three training courses to prepare for official examinations. Then, after the tests, semi-structured interviews were carried out with those people who passed the official examinations. The study results show that sitting the official examinations requires, in addition to undertaking a considerable workload, the specification of an action strategy. Secondary teachers who have passed official examinations and who have obtained a position in a school have placed special emphasis on the first examination (syllabus and solution of a practical case), on the carrying out and evaluation of competences, on the previous years' examinations evaluation criteria and, finally, they have carefully prepared the second examination (presentation of a didactic unit and its defence before a panel). In many cases, they have obtained the advice of their colleagues in the school where they work and these colleagues have provided them with support material. Besides the importance of this support, it is necessary to take into account the induction processes of the novice teachers. Guidance of new teachers noticeably improves their qualification process, and, as shown in this study, it seems relevant when it comes to successfully sitting the teaching civil service access examinations.