Aprendizado da docência de professores bacharéis na Universidade Federal de Uberlândia: (re)inventando a prática pedagógica

Abstract

This study, linked to the ‘Knowledge and Educational Practices’ line of research, focused on the learning of the teaching praxis among bachelor's degree holders who give classes in the higher education setting. The main objective was to analyze the constitutive dimensions of this process of learning how to teach, specifically seeking to understand the difficulties and challenges faced by bachelor's degree holders and the possible changes in their conceptions of the pedagogical practice resulting from formative experiences aimed at building professional knowledge about teaching. The analyses were mainly based on the works of Almeida (2012), Chauí (2003), Cunha (2010), Isaia and Bolzan (2008), Marcelo Garcia (2009), Melo (2018), and Pimenta (2012; 1997; 2005; 1999). The study had a qualitative methodological approach anchored in the theoretical and methodological assumptions of critical-collaborative action research. Seventeen bachelor's degree holders from different fields of knowledge participated in the study. The corpus of analysis consisted of transcripts of reflective sessions and records produced by the participants during formative activities, involving readings, group dynamics, and various testimonies. The content analysis of the empirical material was guided by Bardin (2011) based on four main categories: Challenges of the teaching profession, Conceptions of the pedagogical practice, Becoming a teacher, and Professional teaching development. The analysis revealed the dilemmas and shortcomings of the process of learning the teaching praxis among professionals who teach in the higher education setting. There was a remarkable lack of pedagogical training and institutional support, especially at the beginning of the teaching career of the participants. The commitment and engagement of the participants in the exercise of the teaching profession—revealed during the processes of identity and pedagogical reconstruction during the formative activities developed in this study—were noteworthy. We believe that the learning of the teaching praxis among bachelor's degree holders should be a permanent process, insofar as it is an indispensable dimension for the consolidation of knowledge of the teaching profession, necessary for the construction of professional identity and for the qualification of the pedagogical practice in universities. We therefore highlight the responsibility of higher education institutions to commit to consolidating institutional policies aimed at teacher training and professional development in order to consolidate the Higher Education Pedagogy and, consequently, strengthen socially referenced quality teaching.