The Role of Mentoring in Brazilian Context: Experiences in Dialogue

• In Event: 47.080 - The Value of Mentoring to Improve Teaching Practices: International Perspectives

Abstract

The present work examines three experiences within different Brazilian institutions, related to mentoring in teachers' professional development, having documentary analysis, action research and narrative inquiry as qualitative methodologies. The theoretical framework includes André, Day, Charlot, Gatti and Zeichner. The first experience presents a mentoring program of scholarship in teaching initiation, called PIBID, that incorporates the basic education teacher that works in the schools in the initial teacher education with three institutions working together. They are the university, the school, and CAPES, an institution that coordinates efforts to improve the quality of Brazil's faculty and staff in higher education through grant programs. The results show that this model of mentoring promoted changes in the schools’ context and in the higher education institution context resulting in articulation between theory and practice, changing in universities pedagogical projects and improvement of the quality of reading and writing for the school’s students. The second experience describes continuing education program of higher education teachers at a community-university. The relevance of the proposal lies in the possibility of breaking with the vicious circle of teacher training, which, when not deficient, does not exist. The first phase of the research consisted of mapping the difficulties of 15 teachers with everyday classroom practice. This mapping served as the basis for the implementation of a training process using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and the self-study methodology. The design of the training process is built collectively, with graduate researchers in education. The VLE has functioned as a collective portfolio, in which the referrals, activities, and perceptions of those involved are recorded. The subjects that the teachers reported the greatest need to discuss were: communication, motivation, systematization and didactic transposition. The results indicate that there is a strong demand by teachers for what they call their "deficiencies in pedagogical training". The third experience refers to a program called Pedagogical Residence (PR), developed at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with teachers in practice as participants. One of the main purposes of PR is to receive initial teachers as collaborators in order to help them thru insertion, as research states that this period can make a difference in how teachers develop their careers. The research values teachers’ narratives and unique experiences in the construction of knowledge. Data collection used interviews with a focus on mentoring. Findings show that, despite the obstacles, teachers believe in their power to produce emancipatory practices and new ways of thinking and doing education and the presence of mentors assures better practices and deeper reflexive processes. In conclusion, the three studies argue that, if we are to retain promising teachers, there is an urgent need to align local and national political agendas to improve teachers’ working conditions, with a constant presence of mentors.

Authors

• Martha Maria Prata-Linhares, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro - UFTM

• Maria Alzira Pimenta, Sorocaba University

• Helena Amaral da Fontoura, State University of Rio de Janeiro