Necessidades formativas de professoras alfabetizadoras iniciantes em uma escola municipal de Uberlândia/MG

Abstract

This study was developed within the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Uberlândia (PPGED/UFU), in the research line Educational Knowledge and Practices. It investigates the training needs of early-career literacy teachers and the processes through which they construct teaching knowledge in the context of literacy education. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the training needs of early-career literacy teachers, and how do they construct their teaching knowledge through pedagogical practice? The general objective was to understand the training needs that permeate the beginning of literacy teachers’ professional practice. The theoretical framework is grounded in studies on teacher education and professional knowledge, particularly Pimenta (1999), Nóvoa (1992), and Imbernón (2010). The research is also informed by discursive and humanizing perspectives in literacy studies, drawing on Smolka (2012), Goulart (2019), and Bakhtin (2003), as well as contributions to literacy and literacies studies, especially Soares (2003; 2016) and Ferreiro and Teberosky (1999). This research adopts a qualitative, exploratory, and interpretative approach. Data were produced through questionnaires and a focus group conducted with literacy teachers from the municipal public school system of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. Data analysis was based on the construction of analytical categories derived from thematic recurrence and from the meanings produced in participants’ statements. The results indicate that the main training needs of literacy teachers are organized around four central axes: (i) literacy teaching methods, characterized by the predominance of homogeneous approaches and the absence of broad and critical training; (ii) pedagogical practices in inclusive education contexts, revealing a lack of institutional preparation, specific training, and structural conditions to address student diversity; (iii) family– school relationships, marked by difficulties faced by families in supporting children’s literacy processes; and (iv) sources of teaching knowledge, mainly constructed through peer exchanges, everyday professional experiences, continuing education, and the use of digital resources. The findings suggest that initial and continuing teacher education has been insufficient to meet the real demands of literacy education, particularly at the beginning of the teaching career, contributing to feelings of insecurity, work overload, and pedagogical vulnerability. The study highlights the urgency of public policies aimed at continuous teacher education that recognize the complexity of literacy teaching, value experiential knowledge, promote critical reflection on practice, and ensure career development and improved working conditions in basic education, as well as institutional contexts committed to inclusive, democratic, and socially grounded education.