Conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo de professores da educação profissional técnica de nível médio: um estudo sobre a prática docente

Abstract

This research addresses the construction and practice of pedagogical content knowledge of teachers working in technical and vocational education (TVE) in a secondary-level technical course at a Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology (IF). It is part of studies on teacher education, focusing on the knowledge that underpins the practices of teachers in TVE. The central research question guiding the study was: How does the process of constructing pedagogical knowledge, particularly pedagogical content knowledge, occur among teachers for teaching in secondary-level technical and vocational education (TVE)? Based on this research question, the general objective of this study was to understand the process of constructing pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of secondary-level TVE teachers as mobilized in the classroom. To achieve this general objective, specific objectives were proposed: to characterize the training and professional trajectories of secondary-level TVE teachers; to identify the knowledge mobilized by these teachers in the classroom; to identify the sources of construction of this knowledge; to analyze the process of constructing pedagogical content knowledge; and to describe the ways pedagogical content knowledge and other professional knowledge are mobilized in the classroom. The main theoretical contributions of this research are the studies of Shulman (1986, 2014) on the wisdom of practice, the knowledge base for teaching, pedagogical content knowledge, and the processes of pedagogical reasoning and action; Nóvoa (2017, 2022) on teacher education; and Machado (2008), Kuenzer (2010), Frigoto, Ciavatta, and Ramos (2012), who address the topic of technical and vocational education. This qualitative research used the following instruments for constructing empirical data: application of a questionnaire, non-participant observation of teaching practice, interviews, and document analysis of teaching materials and lesson plans. The data were analyzed using a hermeneutic interpretation perspective. The empirical research was conducted in the Technical Course in Construction at the Pelotas Campus of the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Southern Rio Grande do Sul (IFSul). The participants of the study were tenured teachers who teach vocational curricular units of the course. The results indicate that, for the teachers in this study, professional knowledge is constructed during schooling stages, both in secondary-level technical courses and in undergraduate programs. This knowledge is reinterpreted in professional practice in the initial training area and, when teachers mobilize it in the classroom, it is once again reinterpreted to become teachable knowledge for students. In this transformation process, teachers use different teaching strategies, and as they gain experience in teaching, they expand their knowledge base, both specific and pedagogical. Thus, it is inferred that pedagogical content knowledge is constituted by the amalgamation of specific content and pedagogical content, and within these two categories of knowledge, other types of knowledge are found. Specific content encompasses knowledge acquired during initial training, professional experiences in the initial training area, knowledge constructed in qualification courses in the initial training area, and updates sought by teachers at fairs, events in the construction field, and technical visits to worksites and construction material factories. Pedagogical knowledge consists of general pedagogical knowledge and knowledge about the curriculum, students and their characteristics, the educational context, and the goals, purposes, and values of education and its historical and philosophical basis.