A virtual constructivist learning environment is being developed for in-service education of Physics and Mathematics teachers. Its instructional design is based on Problem Based Learning with the main goal of promoting reflection about authentic professional problems. The present study looked for the authenticity of the problems in the discourse of a group of teachers who work in public schools of the capital of Rio de Janeiro State and other towns of the north of the State. The content analysis of their discourse allowed its classification into three categories: Structural Conditions of the Public School, Curriculum, and Teaching. The evaluation analysis of the themes that compose the categories of Curriculum and Teaching led to the identification of similar problems that teachers of Physics and of Mathematics deal with in public schools. The problems related to the curriculum are influenced by educational policies and those related to teaching refer to practical and theoretical aspects of their work besides the expression of discontent with different types of deficiencies in pupils.
problems of pedagogical practice; teaching of Physics; teaching of Mathematics