Caminhos da docência: a construção da identidade docente nos cursos de licenciatura na UFU – MG

Abstract

This research is linked to the line of research on Knowledge and Educational Practices within the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Uberlândia - UFU, focusing on the construction of teaching identity in undergraduate teacher education programs at UFU. Identity is an individual characteristic (MARTINAZZO, 2010), mutable (DUBAR, 2005; NOVÓA, 1992), shaped and reshaped through social relations (FLORES, 2015; FREIRE, 2001). In order to address the question, 'how is teaching identity constituted?', we defined the general objective of the research as identifying and analyzing the elements present in students' narratives that permeate the formation of professional teaching identity in the context of the undergraduate programs at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). The specific objectives are: I) To understand the motivations for entering an undergraduate teacher education program at UFU and the decision to become a teacher; II) To identify which knowledge areas are deemed necessary for the construction of teaching identity according to the subjects researched, and how these areas are presented; III) To analyze students' perceptions of teaching and what it means to be a teacher; and IV) To analyze students' perceptions of teaching work and what it means to be a teacher in today's society. Methodologically, the research is exploratory (GIL, 2002), descriptive (BOGDAN & BIKLEN, 1994), and qualitative (MINAYO, 2001), conducted within undergraduate teacher education programs at UFU, involving students from various fields of knowledge. Our discussion on the process of forming teaching identity is supported by a literature review using the State-of-the-Art technique (NÓBREGA-THERRIEN; THERRIEN, 2010), and engages with the ideas of Freire (1996; 2002), Nóvoa (1991; 1992; 2009), Flores (2015), Arroyo (2000), and Tardif (2002). Data collection employed the Narrative Interview method, which provides contextual and relational details necessary for understanding life histories (FLICK, 2009) and the formation of teaching identity. Data analysis will utilize Content Analysis (BARDIN, 2006). Life narratives describe lived contexts and experiences that contribute to identifying important aspects of being and becoming a teacher, laden with emotions, feelings, and memories that influence the construction of the subject's teaching identity. We understand teaching identity as an ongoing, mutable, and multifaceted process, shaped by various factors across three emergent dimensions: the first dimension involving factors before entering the teacher education program; the second dimension involving factors during the course of teacher training; and the third dimension focusing on expectations regarding future or current teaching practice, as well as perceptions of what it means to be a teacher and the role of teaching work in society. Thus, teaching identity is formed, created, remade, changed, and transformed through life's movements and the individual's contexts of life, social relations, cultural, economic, and political influences.