O uso do livro didático, em sala de aula, por professores de história

Abstract

The subject of this dissertation is the use of instructional material in the classroom, with a focus on the subject of History and Pedagogy, though the observation of three high school level teachers of History. Using semi-directed interviews and systematic observation of a series of classes given by the participating teachers, we focused on their practices and reflections on the use of instructional material. Our objective was to understand how teachers use the material and how or if transformations occurring in the scholastic subject of History, and its related instructional material, have became a part of daily practice in the classroom. The development of the categories of analysis grew from our immersion in the field of research. We used as a reference theoretical studies in Pedagogy and the instructional material. Interaction within the concepts of academic knowledge, scholastic knowledge, material to be taught, taught material, reflexive practice, among others, was use to analyze the manner in which teachers adapt themselves to adopted instructional material (material to be taught), transforming it into transmitted knowledge. Our analyses were done based on crossing data from interviews with that obtained from observation. We identified not only the use of the instructional material employed, but also the principal factors which influenced the practices of the teachers, such as vestibular exams, experience levels oh the teachers and chronological teaching time. Though the observation of selected situations, we sough information as to the reflections of the teachers about their practices. It was noted that the classroom practices of the teachers corresponded very much with was derived from their interviews. This research allowed us to verify the complexity of the instructional material usage due to the diverse factors encountered daily in the classroom which influence it. We consider that the teachers observed are in transition; at the same time breaking the rigidity of instructional material (i.e.: inserting material, altering the order of items, questioning certain terms adopted by the authors), while maintaining the material as a means of organizing and legitimating course contents. Thus we note an autonomy/subjection duality in the relationship between the teachers and the instructional material, related principally to the experience of the teachers and the conception of the process of teaching/learning.