Experiências que me constituem professora de língua inglesa: uma pesquisa narrativa sobre uma jornada de (trans)formação docente

Abstract

This is a narrative inquiry (Clandinin; Connelly, 2000, 2015; Clandinin, 2007, 2013) that aimed to understand how I, as a researcher-participant, was (trans)formed and constituted as an English teacher by my experiences, considering the dimensions of temporality, place and sociability. Through autobiographical narrative investigation, I sought to understand the path I took to become an English language teacher. My research was guided by concerns and questions that became my ‘research puzzle’ (Clandinin; Connelly, 2000, 2015): How did my childhood experiences influence my teaching education? What was the path I took since my childhood to become an English teacher? Why was a diploma so important to me? How did the experiences I had working as an instructor contribute to forming the teacher I am today? How do my vulnerabilities affect me? Did the English Major prepare me to be a teacher, as I expected? And was it really what “formed” me as a teacher? What kind of teacher had I become? Seeking understanding, I followed the theoretical-methodological path of Narrative Inquiry, according to Clandinin and Connelly (2000, 2015), to conduct my investigation, starting with the autobiographical writing of narratives of my experiences, prompted by a timeline, photographs and documents from my personal archives, which constituted my research tools. Throughout the process, I composed meanings about my experiences by narrating them, according to Clandinin and Connelly (2000, 2015), guided by Ely, Vinz, Downing and Anzul’s perspective (2005) on writing qualitative research. Through the investigation of my experiences, I was able to identify and weave, as narrative threads, the anxiety and the fear of taking risks - vulnerabilities that shape who I am and permeate my practice - as well as the importance of developing caring pedagogical practices. Ultimately, by composing meanings about my journey, I was able to understand that experiences are embodied - marked on our bodies - and that teacher's identity is in a constant process of (re)construction. I believe that sharing the understandings I developed throughout the process can contribute to sparking discussions and reflections on teaching practice and its challenges, as well as on English language teaching and teacher education.