Trajectories and knowledge of high school teachers: Amid the webs of teacher education

Abstract

This paper presents some reflections about the academic education, career and professional identity of high school teachers in order to try and understand how they affect and guide these teachers’ practices. The studied sample involved 38 teachers of 7 schools of Pelotas. Both the schools and the teachers were chosen according to previously determined criteria. Data were collected through a closed questionnaire organized in five theme axes, comprising, among others, questions about: specific and pedagogical knowledge; pedagogical discussions during their teacher education courses; possibilities of “alternative” practices in the classroom; possibilities of flexibilization of the sequence of contents; memories of their careers as teachers; construction of the knowledge that guides their pedagogical practices. Our analysis shows that the teachers kept coherence in the answers to the several indicators and that, in spite of acknowledging the importance of pedagogical education for their teaching, they have exceedingly valued the knowledge of their specific fields. We believe that this occurs partly due to “cultural tradition” as well as to the conception of knowledge characteristic of some areas. Becoming a teacher has been very much related to the teachers’ daily practices, but the connecting thread of their training seems to have been primarily located in their teacher education courses, by way of the specific contents. Understanding who the teachers in high schools are, as well as their careers, is directly related to thinking their initial training. The results allow us to affirm that the exercise of teaching requires multiple forms of knowledge, which must be apprehended and understood in their relations. Pedagogical science is among them, and only in this perspective can it contribute to teacher education.

Keywords: teacher education, careers, teachers’ knowledge, high school.