Perspectives on The Teaching Career Beginning in Basic Education

A Case Study

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the teaching career beginning in Basic Education using the beginning teacher as a reference. The study is based on the theoretical discussions of Gonçalves (2000), Huberman (2000), Guarnieri (2005), Tardif (2008), Darling-Hammond (2014), among others. For methodological development, we used qualitative research (BRASILEIRO, 2013), type case study (MEKSENAS, 2011) with input in ethnomethodology (COULON, 1995). The research was carried out in a public school and had as participants a teacher whose teaching time is less than two years, a principal and a pedagogical coordinator. The data collection techniques were observation, questionnaire, interview and field diary. Data analysis was performed based on Bardin (1977), and interpretation in accordance with Hermeneutics-Dialectics also discussed through Minayo's reflections (1998). The results indicate elements that facilitate the beginning of the teaching profession, such as commitment, respect, profile, self-confidence, among other principles. They also point out difficult elements, such as shyness and practical fragility. They also show the different challenges encountered by the teacher, especially the process of overcoming the dichotomy between training (theory) and professional practice. In general, the research findings show that the entry of the beginner teacher into the school results from a university education based on teaching and research. And, that the beginning of the teaching career explains a context of learning knowledge, characterized by the availability and proactivity inherent in pedagogical work, by the experiences of social relations between students and school professionals that converge to the construction of the teaching professional identity. Therefore, the study expands the reflection on the teaching profession from the perspective of the beginning teacher collaborating to expand this field of knowledge.