The Crucial and Long-Term Value of Teacher Training in Improving Education in Brazil

• In Event: The Implementation of Brazil's Base Nacional Comum Curricular: Promise and Challenge With Brazil's Common Core

Abstract

This paper explores the critical role that teacher training plays in both the implementation of the BNCC and the improvement of Brazilian education more generally. We begin with a brief overview of the current status of teacher training and professional development in Brazil. Drawing on extant literature, we outline the systemic barriers that prevent Brazil from recruiting high-quality teachers and from training those that enter the profession (Namo de Mello, 2000; Todos pela Educação, 2018; World Bank, 2001). Our analysis focuses on what we view as the two-pronged challenge of teacher training: cyclical problems in the preparation of teachers and structural issues embedded in the education system that hinder professional development. We argue that these challenges have the potential to impede large-scale policy interventions that seek to improve education nationally and, thus, hypothesize that the success of the BNCC hinges on addressing these issues.

We draw on more than 100 interviews conducted with policymakers, third sector leaders, and K-16 educators to highlight the fundamental role that teacher training plays in the implementation of the BNCC. In doing so, we uncover a cycle of teacher training and development that exacerbates issues of teacher capacity and professionalization. Numerous participants in our study claimed that the teaching profession does not attract the most capable individuals because of its low prestige and modest salaries. Only 20 percent of teachers are trained at Brazil’s elite, public universities; most teachers attend low-quality private institutions (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira, 2017). At both public and private universities, the majority of teachers are taught theoretical concepts and have limited opportunities to practice their craft before entering their own classrooms. Furthermore, opportunities for in-service training are limited due to structural issues in the education system. At least one-third of teachers report that they work a second job during their planning periods, limiting the time that teachers have to receive professional development (Todos pela Educação, 2018). Importantly, those tasked with training pre-service and in-service teachers were poorly trained themselves, contributing to a compounding cycle of inadequate teacher quality and a deprofessionalization of the field more generally.

Our preliminary findings suggest that the BNCC will not take hold in classrooms without an extensive investment and targeted restructuring of teacher training either by states, the federal government, or the third sector. In the words of one respondent, “Everyone thinks the way to improve public education is through teacher training. Alright, that’s easier said than done.” This paper highlights the fact that federal policies cannot negate the central role teachers play in the implementation of education reform, and advocates for building teacher capacity through improved training opportunities.

Authors

• Anna Moyer, Vanderbilt University

• Carolina Oliveira Campos, Consortium for Policy Research in Education