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THE TEACHING PROFESSION AND THE HEALTH OF THE CHILDHOOD EDUCATION TEACHERS IN PELOTAS, RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the relationship between the teaching process and the health of 196 teachers working at municipal preschools in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2011. Methodologically, the research was developed in two stages, a quantitative and a qualitative one. In the quantitative dimension, a Job Content Questionnaire was applied to the entire faculty, the purpose of which is to investigate the occupational routines of the work that are considered a risk to the workers' health. In the qualitative dimension, data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews on the teachers' educational practices in their daily work and about what surrounds them. The axis of the interviews addressed the daily work of these teachers and their perceptions about the importance of the early childhood education teacher. The analysis showed that the prevailing discourses reinforce the idea of teaching as a priesthood, naturalizing the idea of giving and sacrifice as intrinsic to the teaching process.

Keywords
childhood education; teaching uneasiness; teaching work process

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