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The elementary school and teachers work qualification: challenges and perspectives of the professional master's program in Education

ABSTRACT

In this article, we present a debate about teachers’ continuous formation in the professional masters’ degree and, to do so, we outline the following question: is there really the necessary call for an implied conversation between elementary school and teachers work qualification? To answer this question, we use data from a professional post-graduate program in Education. The reflections can help to understand this formative context regarding the challenges and perspectives that permeate the teachers work qualification, professional development, the research demands determined by the teachers of elementary schools and the partnership between university and school.

KEYWORDS
professional master's degree; niversity; elementary school

RESUMO

Neste artigo, apresentamos um debate sobre a formação continuada de professores na modalidade mestrado profissional e, para tanto, delineamos a seguinte questão: há mesmo o necessário clamor de conversa implicada entre a escola básica e a qualificação do trabalho de professores? Para respondê-la, utilizamos informações advindas de um programa de pós-graduação profissional em Educação. As reflexões podem ajudar a entender esse contexto formativo no que diz respeito aos desafios e às perspectivas que permeiam a qualificação do trabalho docente, o desenvolvimento profissional, as demandas de pesquisas desenvolvidas pelos professores da educação básica e a parceria entre universidade e escola.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE
mestrado profissional; universidade; escola básica

RESUMEN

En este artículo presentamos un debate sobre la formación continuada de profesores en la modalidad Maestría Profesional y para ello delineamos la siguiente cuestión: ¿hay aún el necesario clamor de conversación implicada entre la escuela básica y la calificación del trabajo de profesores? Para responderla utilizamos informaciones provenientes de un programa de post-graduación profesional en Educación. Las reflexiones pueden ayudar a entender ese contexto formativo en lo que se refiere a los desafíos y perspectivas que permean la calificación del trabajo docente, el desarrollo profesional, las demandas de investigaciones desarrolladas por los profesores de la educación básica y la asociación entre la universidad y la escuela.

PALABRAS CLAVE
maestría profesional; universidad; escuela básica

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this article is to further the debate on the continuing education of teachers in the Professional in Education Master's Degree (MPE) by producing a discussion involving the relationship between the elementary school and university. For that, the following question worries us: is there really the necessary clamor of implied conversation between the elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work?

Initially, it should be noted that the creation of the MPE in Brazil was recent and

[…] it is characterized as a response to the already known negative results of initial training in teaching degrees, victims of the theory that maintains the distance between the knowledge gained at the university and the effective practice of teaching in elementary schools. (Silva, 201721 SILVA, W. R. Formação sustentável do professor no mestrado profissional. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiros, v. 22, n. 70, p. 708-731, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782017227036
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201722...
, p. 711, our translation)

According to the National Forum of Professional in Education Master's Graduates (FOMPE, 201813 FOMPE. Fórum Nacional dos Mestrados Profissionais em Educação, 5. 2018. Disponível em: https://www.fompe.caedufjf.net. Acesso em: 5 fev. 2019.
https://www.fompe.caedufjf.net...
), the first Program in Professional in Education Master's dates back to 2009 — it was the Master's in Professional Management and Evaluation of Public Education, at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF); and the second was the Program in the Management and Technologies Applied to Education, at the State University of Bahia (UNEB), in 2010. We take the year 2009 as a reference to the composition of the history of MPE in Brazil, which had its Normative Ordinance 07, of June 22 of 2009 (Brasil, 2009a4 BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Portaria Normativa n° 7, de 22 de junho de 2009. Dispõe sobre o mestrado profissional no âmbito da Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior — CAPES. Diário Oficial da União: seção 1, Brasília, DF, n. 117, p. 31, 23 de junho de 2009a.), replaced on November 28, 2009 by the Normative Ordinance 17 (Brasil, 2009b5 BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Portaria Normativa n° 17, de 28 de dezembro de 2009. Dispõe sobre o mestrado profissional no âmbito da Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior — CAPES. Diário Oficial da União: seção 1, Brasília, DF, n. 248, p. 20, 28 de dezembro de 2009b.). This means that, as of 2009, professionals in the field of education, including elementary school teachers, were faced with discussions involving a new model of continuing education, which could be different from academic master's and specialization courses existing at that time.

Despite the proposal seeming interesting and representing the outcry of most elementary school teachers and the university for the need to promote the conversation between elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work, particularly in the period of 2009 to 2013, the proposal, even though considered innovative, faced much criticism from various sectors of society, including those related to the area of Education itself. The documents published by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and by the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Education (ANPEd) express the tensions that occurred in that period, because

[…] to offer an MPE is to resize the flexibilization of the stricto sensu Graduate Model in Brazil, in the area of Education. But making it more flexible does not mean giving up scientific and academic rigor, but thinking about postgraduate courses from new perspectives that add epistemic dimensions and interventional prepositions in formal or non-formal educational spaces. (FOMPE, 201813 FOMPE. Fórum Nacional dos Mestrados Profissionais em Educação, 5. 2018. Disponível em: https://www.fompe.caedufjf.net. Acesso em: 5 fev. 2019.
https://www.fompe.caedufjf.net...
, n.p., our translation)

Thus, to answer the research question that worries us, we consulted the website and the 2017 quadrennial assessment report, both prepared by CAPES, as well as articles that deal with the subject and the research carried out in the period from 2013 to 2018 in the Post-Graduation Program of Professional in Education (PPGPE) of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).

In view of the documents available on CAPES website, we found that, in the period of 2009 to 2018, that is, in almost a decade, the number of programs and courses related to the MPE increased, as shown in Chart 1.

Chart 1
Courses recognized and evaluated by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel in 2017.

Another important piece of information can be highlighted: the number of Post-Graduation Programs of Professional in Education coincides with the number of MPE courses, that is, 46. Of the 252 pos-graduation courses we have in Brazil today, 46 of them belong to the professional category, which is equivalent to 18% of the total number of courses at the master's and doctorate levels.

It should also be considered that the data from the 2017 CAPES (2017)10 COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR (CAPES). Plataforma Sucupira. Ficha de avaliação: Educação — UFSCar. PPGPE. 20 de setembro de 2017. quadrennial assessment report show that, of the 46 courses in the Professional in Education Master's, 42 were evaluated, which are spread among 41 higher education institutions (HEI) distributed throughout the country, as shown in Chart 2.

Chart 2
Distribution of programs by region.

Chart 2 also indicates that, among the courses, 19 of them are located in the Southeast region, that is, 41% of the total. Taking Charts 1 and 2 as a reference, we understand, as well as Fialho and Hetkowski (201711 FIALHO, N. H.; HETKOWSKI, T. M. Mestrados Profissionais em Educação: novas perspectivas da pós-graduação no cenário brasileiro profissional. Educar em Revista, n. 63, p. 19-34, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49135
https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49135...
, p. 26, our translation), that

[…] MPEs are, themselves, a new perspective, not only in what they can promote, but in the very process that implies conceiving them, giving them form, designing institutional arrangements. It is a process of social dynamics, which implies instituting something that is not given, sometimes in the midst of confrontations with what already exists, in a context of debates, tensions, setbacks, polemics, revisions, deepening and advances. In this way, we understand that, in the Brazilian scenario, within the scope of MPE, some sets of themes were present, sometimes announcing new perspectives (such as the referrals related to updating the Assessment Form and the reaffirmation of the commitment to elementary education), sometimes reiterating principles and conquests (as illustrated by the defense of the rigor of the assessment, the composition of the teaching staff formed by doctors and research).

In this sense, this new perspective that is presented by the MPE points to the need to rethink issues that consider relevant themes related to training, identity, and teaching practice, since, in this context, research is considered “the foundation of the entire training process” (Fialho and Hetkowski, 201711 FIALHO, N. H.; HETKOWSKI, T. M. Mestrados Profissionais em Educação: novas perspectivas da pós-graduação no cenário brasileiro profissional. Educar em Revista, n. 63, p. 19-34, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49135
https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49135...
, p. 26, our translation) of elementary school teachers, with direct implications for the qualification of teachers’ work.

Furthermore, teacher training can be understood as a permanent process and involves the enhancement of the identity and professional status of teachers. In turn, the identity of teachers is simultaneously epistemological and professional, taking place in the theoretical field of knowledge and in the scope of social practice. This implies that the displacement of teachers’ practice stems from the expansion of their critical awareness of this same practice. Here, there is a certain complexity in the task of improving the quality of schoolwork, since teachers contribute with their knowledge, values and experiences in doing and thinking about teaching based on research activities.

Accordingly, the conversations between the elementary school and university are established through the research activity of the teachers, which, in turn, qualifies their work. It is through this activity that elementary school teachers can theorize about the teaching they practice. At the same time, they can explain, in their dissertations and/or educational products, new ways of thinking and doing teaching, once they become authors. In addition, they can break with the idea that they are only executors of theories thought out by university professors and researchers.

In the case of elementary school teachers, we understand that there is a growing need for continuous training or professional development, and the proposal of a professional in education master's degrees has been presented as an option in this field. Thus, if the target of the programs in this modality is elementary school teachers, a better understanding is claimed, also to break with all kinds of prejudice or commonplace, of the importance of this modality of post-graduation education as a space for the promotion of research with and for teachers, in addition to the undeniable contribution of reducing the distance between academic knowledge and practical knowledge. (Neres, Nogueira and Brito, 201418 NERES, C. C.; NOGUEIRA, E. G. D.; BRITO, V. M. Mestrado profissional em Educação e sua interseção com a qualificação docente na educação básica. RBPG, Brasília, v. 11, n. 25, p. 885-909, 2014. Disponível em: https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/rbpg/article/download/559/pdf. Acesso em: 21 fev. 2019.
https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/...
, p. 889, our translation)

Thus, if, on the one hand, the teacher's identity can be understood as that of a being in movement, building values, structuring beliefs, attitudes and acting according to a type of personal/professional axis that distinguishes them from others,

[…] other factors against the professionalization of teaching stand out such as: the frustration in the profession, derived from low wages; the absence of conditions for good professional practice; initial poor training; the absence of continuing education processes; bad working relationships; the multiple extracurricular requirements; the double working day; the neglect of public policies; category heterogeneity; its numerical growth; the expansion and concentration of private companies in the sector; excessive regulations and the consequent loss of autonomy; the tendency to cut social spending and the repercussion of wages on the costs of the teaching workforce; the feminization of teaching; and teaching as a temporary job and second salary; among others… (Carvalho, 20057 CARVALHO, J. M. O não-lugar dos professores nos entrelugares de formação continuada. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, n. 28, p. 96-107, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782005000100008
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478200500...
, p. 97, our translation)

Therefore, we are bringing up the challenge of facing teaching situations, where the education professional needs knowledge competence, disciplinary and interdisciplinary, ethical sensitivity, and political awareness (Brasil, 20013 BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Conselho Nacional de Educação. Parecer CNE/CP 9/2001 Homologado. Diário Oficial da União: seção 1, Brasília, DF, p. 31, 18 de janeiro de 2002. Disponível em: https://normativasconselhos.mec.gov.br/normativa/view/CNE_009.pdf?query=FORMA%C3%87%C3%83O. Acesso em: 28 jan. 2019.
https://normativasconselhos.mec.gov.br/n...
). For this reason, we believe that the programs and, consequently, the elementary school teachers be funded when they are in research activities in the context of the MPE. Surviving without funding is a big challenge for everyone involved. Such a challenge can drive elementary school teachers away from universities, so that the much-needed conversation between the elementary school and teacher qualification, through research activity, can be compromised.

Non-scholarship master's and doctoral students, who gradually become the majority of students in these courses, obviously have other conditions in terms of dedicating time to their studies, but that does not mean that they are any less qualified to be there. Closing possibilities to this type of graduate student is to create yet another space of exclusion. (Gatti, 200114 GATTI, B. A. Reflexão sobre os desafios da pós-graduação: novas perspectivas sociais, conhecimento e poder. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, n. 18, p. 108-116, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782001000300010
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478200100...
, p. 113, our translation)

Such a challenge did not prevent that in 2012, despite the tensions that existed between the Academic in Education Master's and Professional in Education Master's, a group of professors from UFSCar who agreed with the idea that there is even the necessary outcry for conversation implicated between the elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work sent to CAPES a proposal for the creation of a Post-Graduation Program for Professional in Education (PPGPE) and a course at the master's level.

When preparing the proposal, the group could create objective conditions so that conversations between the elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work could be carried out through the research activity. After all, it is from the MPE that one more space can be created in universities for the continued training of elementary school teachers, in such a way that teachers have the opportunity to qualify their work that takes place in the schools and, at the same time, to theorize about their practices. Therefore, these teachers and university professors have the possibility of understanding the reason for the existence of a certain outcry for implied conversations between elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work. In the next section, we present the main ideas of the proposal.

PROFESSIONAL IN EDUCATION MASTER’S DEGREE AT FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SÃO CARLOS: INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE

The proposal for the creation of the PPGPE at UFSCar was presented to CAPES in 2011 by a group of professors who work in different areas of knowledge (Biology, Philosophy, Physics, Physical Education, Letters, Mathematics, Music, Pedagogy and Chemistry) in teacher training and who are assigned to the Department of Teaching Methodology (DME).

When preparing the proposal, this group considered their experiences both in initial training and in continuing training of teachers, especially those related to curricular internships, to the Teaching Initiation Scholarship Program (PIBID), to the Education Observatory Program (OBEDUC) and to the master's and doctorate courses, at the academic level, to which most of the professors were linked at that time. The group understood that the proposal for the PPGPE and, consequently, for the MPE should be based on an interdisciplinary perspective, since the teaching staff would be formed by researchers who mostly had as their first training degree courses in several areas of knowledge, as previously mentioned.

It was defined as the general objective of the PPGPE to develop academic training situated in the professional practice of professors who work in different areas of knowledge, enabling them to significantly influence society. In this way, the program intends the development of research to be of an interdisciplinary nature and in partnership between the university and the school, so that there is social recognition that the teacher is a producer of knowledge related to educational practices that occur in formal and not formal spaces. And, as a line of research, only one was chosen, called “Educational processes — Languages, Curriculum and Technologies”. This means that the PPGPE — and, consequently, the MPE — is conducted through different languages, as well as by the production of theoretical knowledge about didactic situations in the work areas of elementary school teachers and studies related to educational processes, curriculum, technologies and teacher training.

The group also proposed that, as far as possible, teachers could work together in the disciplines, having languages as the articulating axis of the various disciplines that make up the curriculum. It was also established that the methodological principles of the disciplines should consist of the presentation of problem situations, to post-graduation students, with the aim to understand the historical, political, and social injunctions that determine them and the quest to abstract principles — epistemological, methodological, and didactic — which support their actions and simultaneously strengthen their theories.

The proposal was approved by CAPES, and the MPE course began in the second half of the following year, in 2013. The first dissertation was defended in December 2014. The program was evaluated for the first time in 2017, in its first quadrennium; it started with a grade of three and, after the first evaluation, it got a grade of four.

It is worth noting that the total credits for the degree is 100, 36 in disciplines (two mandatory and four optional) and 64 for the preparation of the final work, which has the format of a dissertation.

The target audience is made up of teachers who already work in elementary education in any area of knowledge. In addition to the subjects (mandatory and non-mandatory), post-graduation students participate in study and research groups; meetings proposed by advisors; and academic events. In addition, they write scientific articles and experience reports and develop educational products.

These learning spaces that draw on multiple sources of knowledge are provided even when students join the program. As a way of starting from the selection process a dialogue with the baggage of experiences lived by the master's students, we included in the selection process the writing of a memorial, that is, an autobiographical account in which the candidate narrates their personal and professional trajectory up to that moment when they decide that the time has come to invest in a master's level education. (Neres, Nogueira and Brito, 201418 NERES, C. C.; NOGUEIRA, E. G. D.; BRITO, V. M. Mestrado profissional em Educação e sua interseção com a qualificação docente na educação básica. RBPG, Brasília, v. 11, n. 25, p. 885-909, 2014. Disponível em: https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/rbpg/article/download/559/pdf. Acesso em: 21 fev. 2019.
https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/...
, p. 892, our translation)

In the case of the MPE at UFSCar, when participating in the selection process, the candidate delivers a preliminary research project, so that the program's professors can learn about the topics that are of interest to elementary school teachers. Like other professional programs in education, the PPGPE also does not receive funding from CAPES. Since 2014, the payment of registration fees in the selection processes has helped to encourage the participation of master's students and their supervisors in national and international academic events, for example.

We believe that professional master's degrees, due to their specificities, such as, for example, the requirement that graduate students have a professional link with elementary education, can configure and establish themselves as an important “training instance”. When entering a post-graduation program and carrying out their scientific research with a focus on real situations experienced in the classroom, the professor/graduate student/researcher has greater conditions to “make proposals that denote their authorship”, participating actively in the debates involving their professional practice. (Neres, Nogueira and Brito, 201418 NERES, C. C.; NOGUEIRA, E. G. D.; BRITO, V. M. Mestrado profissional em Educação e sua interseção com a qualificação docente na educação básica. RBPG, Brasília, v. 11, n. 25, p. 885-909, 2014. Disponível em: https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/rbpg/article/download/559/pdf. Acesso em: 21 fev. 2019.
https://ojs.rbpg.capes.gov.br/index.php/...
, p. 890, our translation)

When analyzing the research carried out within the scope of the PPGPE of UFSCar, we agree with Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2002)8 COCHRAN-SMITH, M.; LYTLE, S. L. Dentro/fuera: enseñantes que investigan. 1. Ed. Madrid: Akal, 2002. that the research of teachers who work in elementary education is intentional and systematic because they consider the fluent dynamics of the classes developed in elementary education and the particularities and singularities of each one of them.

The research is intentional because, in this specific case, the professor-researchers study, plan actions and prepare, collectively as much as possible, educational products that can positively intervene in the processes that involve the teaching and learning of different languages. They are also systematic because they systematize, in an academic way, in this case, in the format of a dissertation, the interventions that occur in classes and indicate the theoretical reflections made over 24 months.

From this research perspective, the educational products of elementary school teachers that are part of the MPE dissertations can be configured in different formats, such as situations that trigger learning, inter- and multidisciplinary teaching projects, teaching materials or even newspapers and diverse texts that are made explicit in the form of narratives, portfolios, reflective diaries, web pages, etc.

Research activities carried out by elementary school teachers show the importance of considering MPE as an innovative perspective for continuing education. In this context, they have the opportunity to choose the object of study based on their professional practices. And, in methodological terms, they explain how to transform classroom problems involving teaching and learning processes into research problems.

Based on the analysis of these problems, they can develop situations that trigger learning and projects, among others, that are more appropriate for their classes to meet the expectations of the students. Therefore, new challenges and new perspectives emerge that will continue to move professional practices and the professional development of elementary school teachers and university professors. That is, it is through research activities that teachers have the possibility of becoming researchers and theoretically understanding one of the elements that make up their professional practice: the organization of teaching.

Therefore, over five years, 48 dissertations were defended within the scope of the PPGPE of UFSCar. In addition to this information, it is worth mentioning others that are of fundamental importance for us to seek to answer the research question (is there really a need for outcry for implied conversation between elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work?). Figure 1 represents such aspects of analysis that will be discussed next.

Figure 1
Structuring elements for analysis of the information.

In view of such a scenario, we understand, as do Grassi et al. (201615 GRASSI, M. H.; MARCHI, M. I.; SCHUCK, R. J.; MARTINS, S. N. Docência em mestrado profissional: registros de percepções e práticas em (re) construção. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 66, p. 681-698, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782016216635
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201621...
, p. 696, our translation) that “[…] the professional master's degree for the training of teachers is, par excellence, a teaching space under (re)construction.”, where it promotes conversation and partnership between elementary school and university.

MANIFESTATION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ FOR THE PROFESSIONAL IN EDUCATION MASTER’S DEGREE

Nóvoa (200719 NÓVOA, A. Desafios do trabalho do professor no mundo contemporâneo. São Paulo: SINPRO-SP, 2007. Disponível em: https://notasdeescuta.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/nc3b2voa-a-desafios-do-professor.pdf. Acesso em: 20 jan. 2019.
https://notasdeescuta.files.wordpress.co...
, p. 14, our translation), in various writings, has insisted on “training more centered on practices and on the analysis of practices”, that is, the author indicates that it is necessary to “reflect on practices and work on practices”. In keeping with this foundation, the MPE provides opportunities for discussions related to practices and the alignment of voices between the university and the school (Silva, 201721 SILVA, W. R. Formação sustentável do professor no mestrado profissional. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiros, v. 22, n. 70, p. 708-731, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782017227036
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201722...
). In this specific case, the voices are represented by basic education teachers who teach in various regions of the country and by university professors who work in degree courses and develop research and extension projects. Some of these projects, such as PIBID and Pedagogical Residence, are currently being developed through partnerships shared between schools and universities.

Perhaps it is the outcry of these voices that has made both elementary school teachers and university professors feel the need to start an implied conversation between elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work, since the creation of the PPGPE, in 2013, until 2018. This outcry made it possible for a large number of professors to become interested in the course. In 2013, when there was still no payment of registration fees, there was a record number of applicants (400), and, in subsequent years, despite payment of registration fees being necessary, over 100 professors participated in the selection process. That is, in five years, about 1,000 elementary school teachers from all over Brazil showed interest in the program. Accordingly, we must agree with Oliveira (201320 OLIVEIRA, M. A. B. Formação continuada de professores dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental I: uma experiência com o Programa Escola que Vale. 2013. 182 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Educação) — Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisboa., p. 23, our translation) who states that

[…] the professional appreciation of teachers is one of the most important and basic elements of any educational system, highlighted by the entire movement of workers in education, whether through the implementation of public policies or training programs.

In addition, we understand that continuing education aims to be associated with the process of analyzing the pedagogical practices developed by teachers in their work routine and in their school routine, where they seek to understand what happens in the classroom and the meanings produced in the process of teaching and learning. That is, “[…] it constitutes a privileged locus, not only for reflecting and discussing its own practice, but also for the creation and implementation of propositions that make it possible to envision new paths in the school context.” (Canen and Xavier, 20116 CANEN, A.; XAVIER, G. P. M. Formação continuada de professores para a diversidade cultural: ênfases, silêncios e perspectivas. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 16, n. 48, p. 641-661, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782011000300007
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201100...
, p. 641, our translation).

We certainly cannot restrict the MPE's proposal to continuing education, because, upon returning to academics, master's students have the opportunity to review their teaching work, but, beyond that, they can appropriate new elements of their work.

The participation of teachers in the research of their own practice has been especially valued in recent years, allowing teachers to have a turn and a voice in exercising the role of a collective social player in the transformation of school daily life and beyond. (Carvalho, 20057 CARVALHO, J. M. O não-lugar dos professores nos entrelugares de formação continuada. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, n. 28, p. 96-107, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782005000100008
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478200500...
, p. 97, our translation)

Aligned with this objective, the university can assume a collaborative role, which is understood as “[…] an effective means for teacher development with an impact on the quality of students’ learning opportunities and, thus, indirectly or directly, on their motivation and development […]” (Hargreaves, 199816 HARGREAVES, A. Os professores em tempos de mudança: O trabalho e a cultura dos professores na Idade Pós-Moderna. Lisboa, Portugal: McGraw-Hill, 1998., p. 131, our translation) contribute to the configuration of the research activity by elementary school teachers.

In addition, the university can stimulate professors’ interest in the articulation between teaching and research, so that they can perceive the relevance of research in teaching for the modification of their practices and to benefit from a more active involvement in the production of the same in their specific area of knowledge (Grassi et al., 201615 GRASSI, M. H.; MARCHI, M. I.; SCHUCK, R. J.; MARTINS, S. N. Docência em mestrado profissional: registros de percepções e práticas em (re) construção. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 66, p. 681-698, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782016216635
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201621...
).

INTERACTION BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

From what has been said so far, we must also consider that there are many discussions about the unsatisfactory rates of teacher training courses aimed at preparing teachers in both initial and continuing education. One of the justifications lies in the lack of interaction between the university and elementary schools. As a counterpoint, we saw the discussion about the identity of the PPGPE that is expressed in its unique line of research and curricular proposal, as well as in the final works of conclusion, materialized in the format of dissertations. We agree with André and Princepe (20171 ANDRÉ, M.; PRINCEPE, L. O lugar da pesquisa no Mestrado Profissional em Educação. Educar em Revista, Curitiba, n. 63, p. 103-117, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49805
https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-4060.49805...
, p. 105-106, our translation) that

[…] the research plays an important role in the training of professionals in education, as it gives them the opportunity to analyze the reality in which they operate, locate critical areas that can be clarified by a systematic collection of data and theoretical-methodological references, which allow them to act more effectively in this reality. When research promotes critical reflection on professional practice in education, it enables the development of critical and creative individuals.

So, we must consider that, according to the CAPES quadrennial Assessment Form presented to PPGPE of UFSCar, the “[…] defended dissertations show adequacy for the objectives and definitions of the lines of research […]” and “[…] have applicability in the area of Education.” (CAPES, 201710 COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR (CAPES). Plataforma Sucupira. Ficha de avaliação: Educação — UFSCar. PPGPE. 20 de setembro de 2017., p. 7, our translation). In general, the focus of the research was on the professional activities of the authors, as teachers or specialists, school coordinators, supervisors, or principals, in various levels of education, such as kindergarten, early and final years of elementary school, and high school.

Regarding the “educational products”, this deserves special attention, because, according to the CAPES document (2013, p. 24-25, our translation), “[…] the master's student must develop an educational process or product and use them in real classroom conditions or non-formal or informal teaching spaces, in a homemade or prototype format […]”. However, we should agree with the authors Bomfim, Vieira and Deccache-Maia (20182 BOMFIM, A. M.; VIEIRA, V.; DECCACHE-MAIA, E. A crítica da crítica dos mestrados profissionais: uma reflexão sobre quais seriam as contradições mais relevantes. Ciência & Educação, Bauru, v. 24, n. 1, p. 245-262, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-731320180010016
https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-73132018001...
, p. 249, our translation) that

[…] at no time is there any pretense of preparing a product that is intended to be applicable throughout Brazil, even though we believe that ideas can be exchanged and promote solutions in other corners […]. We do not place this all-encompassing and salvationist potential of Brazilian education on the products, because we do not see it as the only contribution made by the MPE.

Among the MPE of UFSCar productions, Chart 3 indicates 12 of the 48 dissertations defended in the period from 2014 to 2018 and shows the outcry of teachers to understand questions about the teaching of different areas of knowledge and about school management. The voices of teachers, together with those of researchers, make up the 48 dissertations and the respective educational products that are integrated into them. Like Silva (201721 SILVA, W. R. Formação sustentável do professor no mestrado profissional. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiros, v. 22, n. 70, p. 708-731, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782017227036
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201722...
, p. 710, our translation),

Chart 3
Dissertations defended in the period of 2014 to 2018.

[…] from an interdisciplinary perspective, we used theoretical-methodological references from different origins, which is justified by the complexity of the constructed research object. Focusing on continuing teacher education without losing sight of the force field that surrounds the points of contact between university and elementary school inevitably demands interaction with different references, even if we are dealing directly with the teacher of a specific school subject.

Thus, attention must be paid to the fact that the development of research with teachers, based on situated, contextualized and interdisciplinary didactic situations, aims to establish partnerships between the university and school, so that elementary school teachers can be socially recognized as producers of knowledge and, at the same time, the school can also be recognized as another locus of knowledge production and teacher training.

We highlight, then, the potential of MPE in terms of providing opportunities for meetings with peers and favoring the exchange of experiences in different realities,

[…] the questioning, participation and decoding of theories, concepts, discourses, and messages that make up the curriculum and practices in the classroom and that are often impregnated with prejudices, stereotypes, silences, and omissions. To this end, dialogue presents itself as an indispensable instrument, from which teachers and students can establish a dynamic of understanding and reflection, in which the “voices” of all are heard, considered, and debated. (Canen and Xavier, 20116 CANEN, A.; XAVIER, G. P. M. Formação continuada de professores para a diversidade cultural: ênfases, silêncios e perspectivas. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 16, n. 48, p. 641-661, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782011000300007
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201100...
, p. 643, our translation)

However, it is up to us to warn that the dissemination of research carried out by elementary school teachers, within the scope of MPE, in academic events, is still very timid, considering that a good part of the Education Secretariats and development agencies have not yet noted the fact that, to meet this demand, teachers need funding and time to prepare and travel to the various regions of the country and abroad to present and reflect on the results of their research with other peers at various national and international congresses.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

Returning to the initial question — is there really the necessary outcry of conversation implied between the elementary school and the qualification of teachers’ work?—– and the discussions made so far, we can answer categorically that yes, because such conversation favors:

  • the awareness of teachers and administrators to the “[…] hybrid character, always unfinished of identities, avoiding freezing […]” (Canen and Xavier, 20116 CANEN, A.; XAVIER, G. P. M. Formação continuada de professores para a diversidade cultural: ênfases, silêncios e perspectivas. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 16, n. 48, p. 641-661, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782011000300007
    https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201100...
    , p. 645, our translation) of pedagogical practices and conceptions;

  • the exchange of knowledge in the context of continuing education;

  • the reflection on practices based on the articulation between teaching and research, since the conclusion work, in most cases, concerns an intervention in its own pedagogical practice;

  • appropriation of research results and not just access to it;

  • a new/another look at the nature of professional knowledge;

  • the writing of academic texts for the production of the final work as well as scientific articles for journals and events;

  • the establishment of “[…] relationships between universities and governmental, non-governmental and, above all, business sectors. They are social facts, and there is no denying them.” (Gatti, 200114 GATTI, B. A. Reflexão sobre os desafios da pós-graduação: novas perspectivas sociais, conhecimento e poder. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, n. 18, p. 108-116, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782001000300010
    https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478200100...
    , p. 111, our translation).

Thus, “[…] a collaborative practice built at the interface between university and elementary school […]” (Foerste, 200512 FOERSTE, E. Parceria na formação de professores. São Paulo: Cortez, 2005., p. 8, our translation) strengthens the debate, the conversation about the training moments and the exercise of the teaching activity.

Furthermore, we agree with Nacarato (201617 NACARATO, A. M. A parceria universidade-escola: utopia ou possibilidade de formação continuada no âmbito das políticas públicas?. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, n. 66, p. 699-716, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782016216636
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-2478201621...
, p. 713, our translation) that “[…] the university-school partnership needs to be a collective construction, based on respect and openness to dialogue. There is no guidebook to make it happen; it is built in the process […]”.

In the specific context of the focus of this study, the PPGPE of UFSCar, we highlight that the marked number of teachers willing to compose the ranks of those selected reflects their interest in professional development based on a practice of questioning.

The teachers included in the program, over the period of five years, for the most part, did not give up. On the contrary, they persisted, overcame various obstacles, and, by becoming familiar with the practice of research, they were able to privilege voices and questions, especially those dealing with reflection on professional practice.

  • Funding: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    02 June 2023
  • Date of issue
    2023

History

  • Received
    07 Jan 2021
  • Accepted
    14 July 2022
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