Ensinar ciências: contribuições e desafios revelados numa formação docente com foco no ensino por investigação

Abstract

This doctoral research focused on the continuing education of Science teachers in the early years of elementary education. It is an action research study conducted with a group of teachers working in early- years classes of full-time municipal schools under the management of the Municipal Department of Education of Jataí-GO. For data recording, we used audio and video recordings, as well as observation notes in a field diary. These data were analyzed using the Content Analysis technique. The guiding question of this research was: What are the contributions and challenges of a continuing education course, based on the Inquiry-Based Science Teaching approach, for modifying the teaching practices of early-years elementary school teachers in the Municipal Education Network of Jataí-GO? Our main objective was to analyze the contributions and challenges revealed during the development of a Continuing Education Course proposal that uses the Inquiry-Based Science Teaching approach, carried out during school working hours and aimed at modifying the practices of early-years elementary school teachers. Among the challenges identified are the lack of teacher autonomy, the absence of infrastructure and pedagogical resources for science teaching, and the influence of external assessments on science classes. The results of the continuing education process showed that changes in teaching practice occur in an individualized manner, according to each participant’s aptitude and willingness, considering that the actions and guidelines of the Municipal Department of Education direct teaching work toward achieving results in external assessments focused on Portuguese language and mathematics. This makes collective teacher action toward adopting Inquiry-Based Science Teaching unfeasible. We found that more effective change depends on a shift in perspective and on political action by the municipal authority which, beyond becoming aware, must implement effective measures to adopt active methodologies more efficiently, breaking with mechanized teaching focused on testing literacy in language and mathematics. In addition to these results, we developed an educational product in the form of an e- book entitled: “Inquiry-Based Science Teaching in the Early Years of Elementary Education: a continuing education course”, which may be used in offering other continuing education courses aimed at providing the theoretical and methodological foundation necessary to promote inquiry-based teaching in early-years classrooms. The Continuing Education Course was evaluated during the 1st Seminar for the Validation of Educational Product Proposals, organized by the Graduate Program in Science and Mathematics Education at IFG, and validated throughout the development of the training and follow-up activities with early-years teachers, as well as by the qualification and thesis defense committees, which assessed it based on the outcomes of the formative actions and their influence on the teaching practices of the research participants.