Mestrado Profissional em Ensino e o Máster en Formación del Profesorado de Educación Secundaria y Bachillerato: aproximando saberes teóricos e práticos na formação acadêmica de professores de Educação Básica

Abstract

In the present investigation, which is about teaching education, we discuss the problem of the distancing between academic education and education from teaching professional practice (PPD). Academic education does not always match the dynamics or the daily routine of teaching actions. Sometimes, after the teachers have completed their education, they realize that academic knowledge is not well grounded on school daily routine. PPD is not only about applying theoretical knowledge; it is also about education and production of knowledge. In this regard, Tardif (2014) criticizes the Traditional Conception of the Relation between Theory and Practice (CTRTP), in which knowledge is exclusively connected to theory. IN CTRTP, PPD either is deprived of knowledge or carries a pseudo knowledge based on beliefs, ideologies and feelings. Consequently, CTRTP also causes the devaluation of practical knowledge before theoretical knowledge. Therefore, with the objective of investigating possibilities of approximating such knowledge, we have devised the research basic question: how to approximate theoretical and practical knowledge in academic education of elementary school teachers? And we propose the hypothesis that Professional Master Programs in Teaching (MPE) present characteristics of Third Space (Zeichner, 2010) that contribute to approximate such knowledge. It is an exploratory research of qualitative approach and the adopted methodology involved case studies in two MPE, one in Brazil and another in Spain, respectively in Mestrado Profissional em Ensino de Ciências e Matemática (MPECM) and in Máster en Formación del Profesorado en Educación Secundaria y Bachillerato (MAES). In all, four field researches were developed, two in each MPE. In the first one, a questionnaire containing questions in Likert type scale and free speech was applied to MPECM graduates. Likert type answers went through data treatment based on graduated scales, and free speech answers were submitted to content analysis (AC). In the second field research, two MPECM professors were interviewed. The interviews were recorded, transcribed through the software Transcreve (developed by the author of this investigation), and submitted to AC. The third and fourth field researches were conducted at MAES, and the same methodological procedures of the former researches were developed. Among the proposed specific objectives, we highlight the construction of a set of elements (or indicators) named Quality Attributes of Teaching Education (AQFD) to be points for reflection about how to approximate theoretical and practical knowledge in academic education of elementary school teachers. Results show that: (i) elementary school teachers perform directly in MAES student education; and (ii) MPECM students have expertise in elementary education, which favors interaction between them and their professors and enables PPD resignification on both sides. Finally, we infer that academic education in both programs value practical knowledge, which contributes to connect theoretical and practical knowledge into teacher training.