O programa escola integrada como possibilidade de construção de espaços híbridos de formação docente

Abstract

This thesis has analyzed the possibility of creating “hybrid spaces” for teacher education in the Programa Escola Integrada (PEI, a Full-Time Education Program), developed through a partnership between municipal schools and public and private universities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. As defined by Zeichner, teacher education should provide a space in which there is a dialogue between professors at the university (academy) and schoolteachers (elementary, middle and high school education), as well as with the community in which the school is located to provide a meeting point between practical and theoretical knowledge, the so-called “hybrid space” for teacher education. Thus, the following research question has guided this study: Does this program constitute a hybrid space for teacher education, as defined by Zeichner? The PEI has been taken as a suitable field for carrying out the research, given its proposal of dialogue between the university, the school and the community, as well as a simultaneous theoretical and practical training. At PEI, the undergraduate students (called “monitores”) act as educators in the Program, under the supervision of university professors and schoolteachers (coordinators of the Program at the participating schools) during their teacher education process. In this way, it has been asked to what extent this experience constitutes a “hybrid space” of teacher education. A single case study has been carried out at a municipal public school in Belo Horizonte. Observations at a municipal school have been made about how PEI works, as well as interviews with people who have been worked there and two professors from the university where the undergraduate students study – one of them being the “mentor”. Data analysis was based upon Bardin (1977) and the categorization was done after the transcription, based upon the topics covered during the interviews, and other categories appeared after the analysis of the field notes. After this academic investigation, it has been possible to conclude that the PEI experience does not constitute a “hybrid space” of teacher education. Even so, it has been found that participation in the Program can contribute to the education of future teachers.