Formação continuada e prática docente de professores de ciências naturais nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how the continued in-service training through experimentation workshops in science as a teaching methodology can contribute to the pedagogical practices of teachers when they teach this area of knowledge in the early years of elementary school. To that end, we invited a group of nine (9) teachers who work with this level of education in a municipal school in the town of Francisco Morato - Greater São Paulo to participate. For data collection, initially applied a questionnaire to know the profile of the teachers and doing research about their backgrounds and ideas about the processes of teaching and learning science. Then, were made eight (8) meetings with workshops that discussed issues linked to the scientific area in which it was possible to find a sequence of experiments that explore three thematic blocks: Environment, Human and Health and Technological Resources. In addition, one of the main purposes of these workshops was to promote reflection of the teachers on the teaching and learning of the discipline. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted individually to assess the perceptions of teachers about what happened. As for the theoretical foundation, with regard to the teaching of science, studies were used Krasilchick, Carvalho et al , Delizoicov and Angotti , Bizzo among others. With regard to professional knowledge, relied on studies by Shulman to discuss the nature of teaching knowledge, Tardif studies were used. Regarding the formation of reflective teachers were considered the ideas of Zeichner and Pimenta. Finally, authors such as Imbérnon and Nóvoa allowed to analyze the teacher training process. The results obtained in the initial questionnaire that served as a reference for the organization of the training process indicated that, overall, the teachers declared have limitations in knowledge, product of their initial and continuing education fragmented. There are indications that their activities with the teaching of science were still often formal and with excessive contents, since rarely used scientific experiments in their classes. With few exceptions most of the teachers stated that his lectures were expository and generally supported by textbooks. During the training process it was observed that the experience of experiments and reflections given expanded the knowledge of the teachers on the topics discussed and to your teaching. Discussions and reflections held during the workshops were identified as triggering activities change the practice of some teachers by favoring the redefinition of knowledge, especially its expansion in the same way that the pedagogical knowledge and the curriculum . Overall, it is also noted increased security of the participants to work on issues related to the environment. However, it was possible to identify the teachers who earlier research had already demonstrated a better understanding of the discipline were able to delve deeper into issues concerning the teaching and learning of Science and enhance the use of experiments, while the other participants were used in a little less of the experiments and explored more activities with videos and children's literature in their science classes. This study showed that there is an intrinsic relationship between knowledge of the scientific content and the availability to use the trial as a teaching methodology. In this sense, yet it is observed there is a need to reframe the professional knowledge of science content through greater use of experimental activities of experiences, both in initial training courses as continuing, particularly with the use of simple experiments