Crenças, motivação e agenciamento político de professores de espanhol: formando uma comunidade de prática

Abstract

Relying on the premise that the context may influence the re-signification of beliefs that may, therefore, influence the motivation and the practice of teachers, this research aimed to investigate the beliefs and the motivation of Spanish teachers in Montes Claros / MG, from the development of a community of practice for political empowerment of the Spanish language in the city. In order to reach the objective, methods and instruments particular of qualitative ethnographic research were carried out. Additionally, this study was developed under three stages: the diagnostic stage, the intervention stage and the evaluation stage. The first stage aimed to identify the beliefs of Spanish teachers about their teaching role and to diagnose their motivation regarding the instruction of the Spanish language. The data collection took place through a questionnaire, which was elaborated in Google Docs and submitted to Spanish teachers of the city. Based on such results, the second stage was directed to the development of an intervention project, the elaboration of a community of practice with the purpose of opening a space for reflection, collaboration, teacher training and implementation of actions regarding Spanish around the city. The discussions were held through the mobile application WhatsApp and through face-to-face meetings. In the third stage, we used a report that allowed us to analyze the impacts and the unfolding of this community in the beliefs and in the motivation of the teachers. Based on assumptions of the interpretative research, we opted to use different instruments that could favor data triangulation. As a result, the development of a community of practice among the teachers, through lectures on theoretical texts, debates, sharing of experience and collaborative development of actions allowed teachers to reflect upon their teaching role, forming positive beliefs about the need for better a performances within Spanish instruction. These beliefs also influenced teacher motivation in adopting a more political stance to defend the permanence or the inclusion of the Spanish Language as a school subject.