ABSTRACT.
Teaching is a profession shrouded in a diversity of concepts and ways of being-doing-acting and knowing the figure of the teacher and their different ways of acting allows one to understand the breadth of the reality that surrounds this professional. This research aimed to investigate the perceptions and meanings of teaching among elementary school teachers in a municipal school in Santa Maria/RS. Having cartography as a method, it was possible to pay attention to the processes that involve the subjects present in the research, allowing problematization to provoke reflections. For this purpose, observations and four group meetings were carried out at the school, in which three teachers participated. A field diary was used to record the narratives and activities performed. It was found that the teaching profession is built in the social field, as both the image and what it means to be a teacher is built throughout the life of each person. It was also observed that the exercise of teaching occurs in the collective sphere, as in this space new perspectives for professional performance emerge, thus enabling a way to escape from the sickening logic that involves the teaching profession. It is understood that this illness is the result of subjectivation processes that expand throughout a political, economic, cultural and social network. In view of this, it was possible to apprehend those interventions that involve the collective can be actions that enhance changes, both in the being and in the doing of the teacher in their professional routine, thus supporting their personal growth as a teacher.
Keywords:
Public education; cartographic method; teaching work