MLS EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHwww.mlsjournals.com/ISSN: 2603-5820 |
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Educational Research Journal 2018, Vol 3 n. 1;
How to cite this article:
Yavorski, R. & Campos e Santos, M.A. (2019). Teacher Training: Teacher Training and the Influence on Student Learning. MLS-Educational Research, 3 (1),25-42. Doi:https://doi.org/10.29314/mlser.v3i1.70
Abstract. The learning process needs professionals prepared to face all the challenges of education, therefore the education professional, training becomes basic item is important for inclusive education and quality. The difficulties presented by the students can be exceeded from the use of innovative techniques, motivating students in the search for knowledge. Objective: observe whether the knowledge of the teacher influence on the methodologies used for learning difficulties. Methodology: cross-sectional study of interview to identify the current situation with teachers in primary education institutions investigated. The semistructure interview was composed by open and closed questions allowing the teacher discourse freely on the proposed theme, with the purpose of clarifying it. Results: it was observed that in all classrooms of the institutions surveyed, there are students who present learning problems, that most teachers are postgraduates and seek to know new methodologies for help the students about learning. Conclusion: it is concluded that teachers they care, with the effectiveness and quality of education and the importance in working innovative techniques looking to solve learning problems and behaviour. For this seek information with other professionals, in the process of extension and post-graduates.
Keywords: Elementary school, post-graduates, learning.
Resumo. O processo de aprendizagem necessita de profissionais preparados para enfrentar todos os desafios da educação, sendo assim, a formação deste profissional torna-se item básico e importante para a consecução de umaeducação inclusiva e de qualidade. As dificuldades apresentadas pelos alunos podem ser ultrapassadas a partir da utilização de técnicas inovadoras, que motivem os alunos na busca de conhecimento. Objetivo observar se o conhecimento prévio do professor influencia nas metodologias utilizadas para as dificuldades de aprendizagem. Metodologia: estudo transversal composto de entrevistas para analisar a situação atual junto aos professores em instituições de ensino fundamental investigadas da cidade de Sarandi, Paraná, Brasil. A entrevista semiestruturada foi composta por perguntas abertas e fechadas permitindo ao professor discorrer livremente sobre o tema proposto, com o objetivo de esclarecer. Resultados: observou-se que em todas as salas de aula, das instituições pesquisadas, existem alunos que apresentam problemas de aprendizagem, que grande parte dos professores são pós-graduados e buscam conhecer novas metodologias para auxiliar os alunos quanto à aprendizagem. Conclusão: conclui-se que os professores se preocupam, com a efetividade e qualidadeda educação e da importância em trabalhar técnicas inovadoras buscando solucionar os problemas de aprendizagem e comportamento dos alunos. Para isso, procuram informações com outros profissionais, em cursos de extensão e pós-graduação.
Palavras-chave: Ensino Fundamental, pós-graduação, aprendizagem.
Resumen. El éxito en el proceso de aprendizaje requiere medios adecuados para afrontar los desafíos de la educación, asimismo, la formación del profesional de la educación es un componente básico e importante para una educación inclusiva y de calidad. Las dificultades presentadas por los alumnos pueden ser exitosas a partir de la utilización de técnicas innovadoras, que les motiven en la búsqueda del conocimiento. Objetivo. Observar si el conocimiento previo del profesor ejerce influencia en las metodologías aplicadas para las dificultades de aprendizaje. Metodología. Estudio transversal que pretende analizar la efectividad de las prácticas pedagógicas utilizadas en las instituciones de enseñanza primaria de la ciudad Sarandi, Paraná, Brasil en alumnos con dificultades de aprendizaje. Se compuso de entrevista con preguntas abiertas y cerradas posibilitando al profesor opinar libremente sobre el tema propuesto para su aclaración. Resultado. Se observó que en todas las clases de las instituciones investigadas, existen alumnos con problemas de aprendizaje y que casi todos los profesores son postgraduados y buscan conocer nuevas metodologías que auxilien sus alumnos en las dificultades presentadas durante el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Conclusión. Concluyese que los profesores investigados si se preocupan por la efectividad y cualidad de la educación a la par de la importancia del uso de técnicas innovadoras que solventen los problemas de aprendizaje y comportamientos de sus alumnos. Por ello, buscan obtener información y más formación por parte de otros profesionales en curso de extensión y postgrado.
Palabras claves: Enseñanza primaria, postgrado, aprendizaje.
Education has always been a much-discussed topic in the world. First, there was a discussion about the quality of the education received by the general population. Over the years, it became apparent that there was a need to better prepare education professionals to put the quality of education into practice. This created a demand of professionals with technical knowledge in the educational areas to improve the work in the different education levels in general.
As a fundamental right, education is a commitment for all, so as to promote the personal, intellectual, social, economic and cultural growth of each student enrolled in school regardless of the level of education, whether primary, secondary or higher. It is within this scenario that one becomes a citizen. According to UNESCO (1998), scientific and technological training is necessary so that students become part of society and, above all, are able to face the challenges of everyday life.
According to Dos Santos (2008, p. 6), the challenge that teachers face is diversity, cultural pluralism. This is why there is a need to think about the subject in order to begin the conceptual and practical transformation of the school, so as to guarantee education for all and effective learning that ensures student permanence and their academic success. This is why it is necessary to reflect on the theme and the possible social transformation in the school by means of pedagogical practices that encourage the enrollment, permanence and success of each student who goes to school.
In the search to develop the physical, cognitive and social capacity of the students, the school plays the key role of training citizens. Therefore, education must happen collectively. It also must contemplate the differences that make up the school, such as: ethnicity, race, gender, class, sex, among others; while teachers must be able to adapt to them (Dos Santos, 2008, p. 9).
To this end, the pedagogical task must take into account that different individuals have different learning rhythms, in the same age group, and each one's potential (Simón, n.d.).
As a result, the national government began to develop policies so that teacher training was of high quality, believing that it would reflect on student development. Thus, for Gatti (2009, p. 90), cited by Brejo (2015, p. 217-218):
[...] the trainer's training becomes central in the formal educational processes, leading to the preservation of a civilization that has better life opportunities and the co-participation of all. For this reason, understanding and discussing teachers' training, working conditions and careers, and consequently the configuration of their professional identity becomes important when understanding and discussing a country's or region's educational quality.
Investment in teacher training is fundamental and necessary, as is the need to carry out work committed to the students' particularities. In their training, teachers undergo various transformations, perfecting their identity, their culture and the history they are helping to build, so that the knowledge they acquire will guide their educational-pedagogical relationships. They will also recognize that children are unique beings and pedagogical practices must respect their differences by promoting interaction, socialization and the individual and collective construction of new knowledge (Brejo, 2015, p. 219).
The Brazilian educational legislation foresees that an adequate training, so that teachers respond to the children's learning needs, is a higher-level degree, which offers essential subsidies to teach specific contents to children, and still articulates teaching and research activities. In other words, teachers need to be prepared to handle countless situations, from the simplest to the most complex, seeking to solve them (Brejo, 2015): 220).
Therefore, research and reflection help to develop topics that assist teachers when designing classes that focus on student learning and the individual's overall development. In order to develop effective teaching-learning activities, pedagogical work needs to consider the knowledge and specific skills of teachers, developing in it the activities of the didactic field (Silva, Giordani, Menotti, n.d., p. 3-4)
The fact of having knowledge or certain abilities is not enough to ensure the competency of an education professional, but their thoughts, behaviors and stances when facing a problem characterize them. An educator does not only teach, but also learns gradually more when doing so, therefore becoming as well subject to the process of learning (Cades, 2015, p.15).
In consequence, the development of a pedagogy professional takes place at the moment said professional come into contact with reality, that is to say, their research is governed by the school reality/necessity; it extrapolates observation enabling the intervention along with the authors of the process of learning. Said interventions are designed and articulated with the moment lived in each school, and mainly with the moment the individual lives inside the school (Francisco, Schneider, 2010, p. 12-13).
It is important to analyze the teacher’s training and initial education, making them aware that their training is not over when they graduate. On the contrary, training is a permanent process with the aim of preparing the teacher for professional experiences in which effective changes take place, where the teachers provide their past experiences, knowledge and aspirations for the future to the training process, aspects that will influence learning (Rêgo, 2006, p. 76).
The dynamics developed in the classroom must allow changes and challenges that can motivate the student to understand and tackle the issue raised. The teacher must pay attention to the creation of new knowledge with the classroom’s contributions, systematizing and organizing said knowledge (Rêgo, 2006, p. 88). School, as well as the professionals working in it, provide features that depend on the times they lived in. Currently, teaching and learning have these features:
According to the authors (p. 13-14):
Counselors, nowadays, are characterized by a much wider task, in the sense of their pedagogical dimension. They function as mediators, along with the other educators, operating with all the school’s protagonists in order to recover a more efficient action and an education that trains students as citizens, especially considering the development of subjectivity. There has been a shift from the former emphasis on individual counseling to the current reinforcement of the collective approach, keeping in sight that the ensemble is composed by individuals that must think and act based on contextual questions, involving contradictions and conflicts, as well as successful achievements. The aim is to change reality and transform it into something fair and humane.
Working with students is not an easy task. Working with them in the classroom means to take action, in the sense of understanding the students’ behaviors and rely on theoretical bases to know how to proceed in front of certain situations (Francisco, Schneider, 2010, p. 15).
In addition, school context requires the teacher to provide all their knowledge, to share wisdom and challenges with other teachers and specialists in order to solve the student’s difficulties so they do not drop out of school. The teacher that is concerned about education and that develops good pedagogical practices makes an important difference in their student’s future lives (Ferreira, 2008, p. 28; Brejo, 2015: 221).
According to Brejo (2015, p. 221-222), pedagogical practice, when guided by ethics, understands and respects the students’ diversities in all their development, considering them the center of the educational process, no matter what their racial, religious or economical situations are. If the goal is to transform the school environment, we must consider it a continuous job. According to Libâneo and Pimenta (1999), transforming the school into a space for cultural, scientific and technological development requires a collective effort by the school itself, that is to say, teachers, civil servants, principals and the students’ parents, in addition to social groups involved. They must endeavor to tackle challenges, mainly in the area of public policies, where teachers are the essential professionals in the construction of the school. This is why it is important to invest in professional training and personnel appreciation.
However, training a thoughtful teacher also requires a change in the quality of the job and schools. In countries where this reform settled in, there has been an investment in teacher training and development, as well as in institutions. Teachers started acquiring dignity in their jobs and their teaching careers with the increase in their salaries; in our country these reforms do not take place, since the discussed goal is to change training, not working conditions (Pimenta, 2013, p.106).
Currently, structured education has been shaken by conflicts between educators and students, which results in unhappy teachers and students with little knowledge on the different subjects. Since the decade of the 90s until these days, the issues with education are getting much worse, with a low learning index, which is bad for a developing country (Kubata, Fróes, Fontanezi, s.f., p.4).
Type of Research
A transversal study using ad hoc questionnaire for data collection and bibliographic theoretical foundation search. It enabled a collected data discussion, propitiating the researcher to cover the wide phenomena in order to characterize the current state of the problem and to make a subject’s history in the city’s primary schools.
In accordance with the set objectives, the bibliographic search and publications’ survey began, selecting the most appropriate materials on the subject. After the selection, a reading began and a summary of the work was made, focusing on the most relevant aspects in order to compose the research theoretical reference.
From the nature’s point of view, the research is classified as basic. The researcher is motivated by intellectual curiosity. The data was collected through interviews with teachers, which, according to Minayo (2001, p.52-55), enable the researcher to look for information contained in their discourse, it is not a neutral conversation, but aimed to collect information regarding the set out problems experienced by them.
The interview was conducted with teachers of students with learning problems in 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade of primary school in the city of Sarandi, combining open and closed questions, enabling the interviewee to discuss the proposed topic freely. They were carried out in February 2018, with approximately 30 minutes of duration. Its guiding axes were: a) teachers’ training, b) students’ difficulties, and c) the pedagogical work carried out by the teachers towards the students’ difficulties.
Research Space
Characterization of the Municipality where the research is carried out
The research took place in the city of Sarandi, which is located in the northeast of Paraná, southern Brazil. It is part of Microregion 9, Association of the Municipalities of Northern Paranaense.
Reseacrh location
The municipal schools selected through the Municipal Education Ministry with the purpose of showing the reality of 10 teachers from two public primary schools in the city of Sarandi (PR), and for being the primary schools that received the best evaluations by the Ministry. One of the schools is located in the central area of the municipality and the other in the peripheral region.
Municipal School A - Kindergarten and Primary Education up to the 5th year.
Municipal School B - Kindergarten and Primary Education up to the 5th year.
The researched schools seek to guarantee the democratic principle of equality of conditions for school access and permanence; free access to the public network; primary education with different education forms’ quality, prohibiting any form of discrimination and segregation.
Philosophy and didactic-pedagogical principles of the Ministry of Education and Culture aimed at schools.
The Ministry of Education and Culture understands school as part of the community, so a current historical context analysis is necessary in order to understand educational issues. With the economy’s growing globalization process, leading to international competitiveness and production patterns, consumption and work organization changes, the worker’s profile is causing new professions emergence while others are dismissed. There is a trend towards the intellectualization of the production process demanding the workers of a greater knowledge, use of ICT (information and communication techniques), computing and other communication means, cognitive skills and reasoning flexibility.
For facing all these transformations and challenges, it is necessary to invest in education by raising the population’s scientific, cultural and technical level, in the sense of making the quality basic schooling universalization possible and improving the opportunities and population's working conditions.
As this is a new historical moment, the school institution needs to reorganize and rethink its pedagogical proposal and its role within society, reflecting on what citizens want to form and what society we want for all. The definition of man, society and education does not only refer to education professionals, but to the whole community where they work.
In this line of thought, the school must contribute to forming people with a critical conscience, prepared to play the leading class role in the future based on scientific knowledge.
The sample comprised 10 primary school teachers trained in Pedagogy and working in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of primary education in schools A and B of the municipality of Sarandi. The studied institutions teaching staff is formed by teachers with a degree in Pedagogy. Teachers work in two shifts, while in each day 4 (four) hours are invested as non-teaching hours, in which pedagogical activities are planned.
Nowadays, the teacher’s professional activity requires continuous training, and the educator who invests in self-knowledge will be better prepared to understand the students’ requirements. The training’s objective is to deepen theoretical and practical aspects that guarantee the work’s specificity and systematization, since a consistent theoretical foundation will enable evaluating underway actions and those that will be planned, intensifying the professional’s knowledge.
After data collection and analysis of interviews with teachers, responses were organized according to the relevance of the topic of study in tables which were discussed descriptively. Partial research data are presented.
Professional performance
Professional training of teachers in the primary education institutions investigated.
Toda formación, inicial o superior, proporciona al ser humano conocimientos necesarios para que el mismo venga a proponer cambios importantes y transformaciones sociales, pudiendo ser esta tanto una educación formal como informal. En la educación formal el profesor presenta contenidos específicos y metodologías adecuadas en el sentido de formar personas capaces de desarrollar la visión crítica y la creatividad (Yavorski, 2014, p. 63).
All formation, initial or superior, provides humans with the necessary knowledge so that they come to propose important changes and social transformations, being possible to be both a formal and informal education. In formal education, the teacher presents specific contents and adequate methodologies in the sense of training people capable of developing critical vision and creativity (Yavorski, 2014, p. 63).
With the development of discussions on the quality of education in the country, the need was perceived for a better preparation of education professionals, which led school institutions to require from their professionals, in addition to a degree in Pedagogy, a postgraduate degree, that is, a specialization that would prepare them and help them work with students who present varied levels of learning and learning difficulties.
The school, in general, plays a fundamental role in the development of students’ learning abilities, this being the main focus of the institutions. For dos Santos (2008, p. 9), education must be done collectively, taking into account the individual differences of each student, where the teacher must be able to work. Therefore, education professionals need to be aware that the construction of knowledge occurs heterogeneously and at each individual’s pace. According to Brejo (2015), pedagogical practice needs special attention to enable teachers to face daily challenges. This provides the possibility of improving and raising the level and quality of education offered in educational institutions in general.
Table 1 presents the academic training of the teachers of the institutions participating in the research
Table 1
Academic training of teachers from the institutions researched
| Teacher | Degree | Post Degree | Post Degree in progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | x | ||
| T2 | x | ||
| T3 | x | ||
| T4 | x | ||
| T5 | x | ||
| T6 | x | ||
| T7 | x | ||
| T8 | x | ||
| T9 | x | ||
| T10 | x | ||
| TOTAL | 3 | 2 | 5 |
The educational institutions surveyed admit professionals with a degree in Pedagogy to teach classes from the 1st to the 5th year of primary education. Teachers are responsible for teaching most of the subjects related to the grade they teach, with the exception of the subjects of arts, physical education and foreign language (English).
It is observed that, among the teachers interviewed, seven (7) declare to have postgraduate degrees in several different courses such as Psychopedagogy, Inclusive Special Education, History, Globalization, School Management; five (5) have specific postgraduate degrees in Learning; three (3) only a degree; and two (2) postgraduate degrees in other areas.
Of the teachers who claim to have postgraduate degrees, all have more than one postgraduate degree. Of the graduate teachers, one level 1 (T1) teacher has stated: “I have difficulty working with students with learning difficulties.” Interviewer: “What do you do when you detect a student who has learning difficulties? Do you turn to a professional?” T1: “In the municipality there is no one to turn to, the psychologists of the department do not guide the teachers and normally only deal with behavioral problems. I usually talk to other teachers who have more experience with these students, who helps me a lot is the T3 teacher who is specialized in Psychopedagogy.”
Thus, it can be concluded that for 9 teachers the postgraduate course becomes important for them to have tools that help in the work with students who have learning difficulties as well as behavioral difficulties. The data suggest that the teachers interviewed are currently oriented towards solving students’ problems; there is a concern for the quality of teaching.
Thus, for Gatti (2009, p. 90) cited by Brejo (2015):
[...] the formation of the teacher becomes central in the formal educational processes, in the direction of the preservation of a civilization that contains better possibilities of life and co-participation for all. Therefore, understanding and discussing the formation, working conditions and career of teachers, and, consequently, the configuration of their professional identity becomes important for the understanding and discussion of the educational quality of a country or region (p. 217-218).
Teacher training is thus directly related to the quality of education in a country. With the opening and expansion of educational opportunities, new challenges arose for the Brazilian public school, having an alteration in the general sense of the school. The incorporation of population sectors that did not have access to school brings new experiences for the educational institution along with tensions, contradictions and differences present in every society (Gusmão, 2010).
Teacher's time in primary education
Concerning the teacher’s time in primary education, it can be verified that four (4) teachers from the participating institutions have been working in the schools for more than 10 years, but we also find recently graduated teachers. Table 2 presents the teaching time of the participating teachers.
Table 2
Teacher's time in primary education
| Years taught | Number of teachers |
|---|---|
| 0 to 5 years | 2 |
| 6 to 10 years | 1 |
| 11 to 20 years | 4 |
| More than 20 years | 2 |
| Not Mentioned | 1 |
| Total | 10 |
The teacher level 2 (T2), with more than 20 years of experience in Primary Education, declares: "In the several years that I work, I notice that nothing has changed in the classroom. What differentiates the students of the past from those of today is that the actual ones do not want to study; they are lazy." In view of the teacher's statement, it is observed that she does not perceive the students' difficulties as problems related to the methodology applied or the behavioral difficulties, but rather to the lack of will of the student.
In light of the educational policies, teachers and schools are important elements for the social, cultural and economic development of nations. Therefore, these are the responsible for the students failures and their lack of preparation at the end of their studies. The training of education professionals came to be seen as theoretical and detached from the school and society demand (Oliveira, 2009, p. 38). Teacher P2, due to lack of knowledge, represents and reproduces the above-mentioned theory.
Regarding the teacher learning, it is important that the teacher learns to be a teacher, and this happens in:
- Learning in the teacher-student relationship;
- Learning in the teacher-teacher relationship;
- Learning through pedagogical practice (Pivetta, Isaia, 2008, p. 251).
The premises described above are linked to the teacher's daily life and are developed in a dynamic process, being built collectively. The T2 seems to ignore that the teacher's task is complex and involves domains of knowledge that can be acquired in exchange and interaction, as well as the capacity for initiative that the teacher needs in the face of existing diversities in society.
The exchange of information with the student makes it possible for the teacher to learn about the difficulties encountered by the students and, therefore, he or she can try to solve them with research and interaction with other teachers. The valorization of the student establishes an affective and flexible relationship, which will help in the understanding of the student and later in the development of the teaching-learning process.
Teacher level 10: “I have already taught in many classes, but this is the most difficult of them all. Sometimes I don't know what to do for the students to learn. I have a student who has repeated a course several times and can't read or write.”
The teaching work needs critical reflection, where the teacher needs constant self-evaluation to make sure that the content taught is correct and appropriate for the student. Through the practice of self-evaluation, the teacher becomes able to create theories about his/her practice and constantly reorganize him/herself. Reflection allows the teacher to innovate pedagogical practice by improving what is not good (Rodrigues, Costa, 2015, p. 1-3).
Number of students with learning difficulties per teacher
Education is a complex process, but it occurs collectively, providing subsidies for the individual to develop individually. However, some individuals fail to adequately accompany the education process as a dynamic and subjective phenomenon (Yavorski, 2014, p. 15).
The issues of learning difficulties are described in the NCPs (National Curricular Parameters), which show the importance of the constructive participation of the pupil and the intervention of the teacher for the learning of contents necessary for the full development of the individual. The development of the student's full capacity occurs through the knowledge construction. The traditional teaching done through expository classes or reading of texts happens to have a different direction. It is possible to work with knowledge in a dynamic and instigating way, that is, the teacher plans learning situations that allow the student to solve problems dynamically on the most diverse issues (Ychoski, 2014, p. 19).
The NCPs were created as devices to organize the education curriculum to make effective the objectives of democratic education, through the objectives proposed for Primary Education, and starting from the school the creation of conditions for good learning (Brazil, 1997). Basic education must be focused on acquisition and effective learning outcomes. Active and participatory approaches are valuable in ensuring learning and enabling the development of student potentialities (UNESCO, 1998, p. 4).
Table 3
Number of students with learning difficulties for each teacher
| Teacher | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| T1 | 1 |
| T2 | 4 |
| T3 | 2 |
| T4 | 8 |
| T5 | 2 |
| T6 | 6 |
| T7 | 2 |
| T8 | 4 |
| T9 | 6 |
| T10 | 4 |
| Total 10 | 39 |
Table 3 shows the number of students with learning difficulties indicated by the teachers; of these 39 indicated students, 7 did not agree to participate in the research, leaving a total of 32 participating students. Teachers T4, T6 and T9 have the highest number of students with learning difficulties. T4 has 8 students and T6 and T9 have 6 students each. T4 has a postgraduate degree, but it is not related to learning problems. The following question was asked about the data:
"Are you prepared to work with children with learning difficulties?”
Of the 10 teachers who answered the question, 9 find it difficult to work with students who have some kind of difficulty in the learning process, including postgraduate teachers. Only one teacher considers that students with difficulties cannot learn due to lack of intelligence and there is no way to help.
T1:"Even if I get help from other teachers with more experience, I feel that I need to do a specialization, which helps to solve the students' problems. Sometimes I don't know what to do to make it easier for them to understand the content. I think Psychopedagogy is a postgraduate course that helps a lot with slow students”.
For this teacher, specialization is important, because it can bring information that helps in the work in the classroom with the students. Alternative work proposals may be the answer to transform the reality experienced today by schools with so many problems. In order to be able to create and intervene in educational processes, the education professional would need initial academic training and continuous quality training. In order to fulfill the role of educator it is necessary to transmit knowledge safely and for this it is necessary to study (Martins, 2003).
P2: "These students are a hopeless case. In the time I teach, I have never seen a student with a learning disability develop. They are really "dumb", it runs in their families, their parents can't read or write, and their children don't want to learn. It's no use, you'll see when you start working with them, they're not interested. Those teachers who say you do this or that, they don't know anything, all chatter."
The T2 teacher does not seem to respond to the learning needs of children, that is, the teacher needs to be prepared to handle innumerable situations, from the simplest to the most complex, seeking to solve them (Brejo, 2015, p. 220). In the teacher's speech, it seems that she has no concern for these facts, with the need for learning. The teacher in the classroom also needs to exercise the function of researcher, through research, the teacher builds classes where the focus is the student's learning and its integral development (Silva, Giordani, Menotti, n.d., p. 3-4).
The knowledge factor is not sufficient to guarantee the professional competence of the educator, however, what characterizes it are its actions in the face of problems. Competence is not in teaching, but in learning more and more in teaching, becoming also subject of the learning process (Cades, 2015, p. 15).
Licensed teacher, level 3 (T3): "I have many students with learning difficulties, it is a pity, we see that they have a great desire to learn, but as I do not have specialization in the area, I find some difficulties”. Interviewer: "Don't you have support from specialized professionals?" T3: "No, the professionals who come from the secretariat don't know how to handle it, they always pass by the room and observe and say that everything is in order. And we do what we can to help the students”.
In addition to courses that help teachers work with students with learning difficulties, it is necessary to open a space for teachers to discuss the methodologies used by systematizing a way of working with students with difficulties.
Teacher level 4, graduate with specialization (T4): "I have a specialization in Psychopedagogy, that's what helps me, but I keep thinking about my classmates, who don't have the knowledge I have, it's very difficult to work with students who have difficulties. Sometimes I get lost without knowing what to do with some students, but as I know the way, I investigate until I find a solution. I also seek to converse with other teachers who specialized in the area so that together we can try to find solutions for our students".
Teacher level 5, graduate with specialization (T5): "I usually use what I learned in the major and, when I can't solve, I talk to the supervisor and other colleagues, but I always try to study the cases and follow the students in everything.”
Four of the teachers interviewed believe that it is important to be privy to learning disabilities, and they feel that they need more information to do a better job. Sometimes these teachers consider themselves unprepared to face certain difficulties presented by students. The teacher with specific training in learning considers that in some cases they encounter difficulties in solving the problem presented by the student and needs to resort to other professionals to reflect together and try to find a solution to the problems presented.
Only one teacher demonstrated disinterest in postgraduate studies, as he considers that students are not capable of learning. For Libâneo (2006) quoted by Martins (2003, p. 8) the problem of education is in:
Poorly organized and managed schools, poor teacher training, poor student performance. Professional training research has an open wound, which is the imbalance between the definition of legal devices and the daily reality of schools. We all know that our school suffers from many shortcomings and chronic problems - the poverty of families, the low salary of teachers, the social devaluation of the teaching profession, the precarious physical and material conditions of schools, grade repetition, the age-to-school year gap, the learning difficulties of students, factors that contribute to the decline in the quality of teaching. There are other incidences of the socio-cultural context of the school such as the intensification of urbanization which, together with other factors, causes the widening of social and cultural diversity within the school; the impact of the media on school life and on student learning; the changes in the internal processes of student learning; The fragility of forms of school organization and management in the midst of abrupt changes in curricular organization, such as cycles and the integration of people with special needs; the difficulty of teachers in adapting to these changes, underscored by the lack of mastery of the contents and methodologies of the disciplines; the shock in the face of problems linked to violence, the use of drugs, the early sexuality of students, and the control of the class.
According to Martins (2003, p. 8-9.), it is not the legal reformulation of pedagogy courses that will bring the solution to all school problems, but rather:
a greater sensitivity to the demands and training requirements coming from the school will be able to favor a better professional training, because this is what it is all about. Part of the confusion in the legislation and the difficulties in obtaining consensus on curricula derive from the lack of realism in capturing the needs and demands of schools and teachers. I believe that we are not knowing how to subordinate teacher training policies to school and student learning policies, and one of the reasons for this is the distancing of some segments of educators from the concrete issues that involve the functioning of the school and the work of teachers.
Thus, it is important that the teacher knows the reality of the student and the context in which the school is inserted to achieve changes in all areas. We need to provide options so that students continue to be motivated to learn by relating pedagogical work to a broader social context. The teacher in the classroom must be a researcher and should be concerned about looking for elements that can facilitate student learning.
Interviewer: "What techniques do you, as a teacher, use to solve learning difficulties?"
Graduate specialized teacher (T6): “What helps me is the postgraduate course I did in Psychopedagogy, when I perceive that students are having difficulty, I use the techniques I learned in the postgraduate course. The best thing was to be able to apply all the techniques with the students, then there wouldn't be any struggling student, but time doesn't allow me to, there is a lot of content to teach. I think it is very important to have a professional who guides the teachers in new techniques to solve the difficulties presented by the students".
The teacher perceives the importance of a differentiated curriculum that helps the student in his difficulties and the exchange of information and knowledge in the sense of understanding the function of the school, which is to guarantee knowledge to the student. The teacher, reflecting on his task, becomes capable of creating, developing educational attitudes that can improve the quality of teaching, and thus value the professional of education.
With difficulties found in the class, the teacher is obliged to dominate practices and knowledge different from those under their purview. Action in basic education requires knowledge, review, reflection-action and creativity by the teacher, so that initial and continuous formation need to provide the teacher with tools which help him in the daily matters. The teacher´s critical reflection about his work will allow the development of attitudes which improve the teaching process (Bonato, 2010).
Graduate teacher with 7-level specialization (T7): “I use the plan sent by the Secretary of Education, there is no due course to make extra activities in the sense of solving the students´ difficulties. I have a non-literate student; I use with him a literacy little book in which I explain the exercise so that he does it at home; afterwards, I correct it. I do this activity 3 (three) times per week. This in the only different technique I use in my lessons.”
Even using the material given by the Secretary of Education, the teacher has the need of using other methodologies with some students, thus demonstrating the importance of teaching which considers the individual differences of each person. 20% of teachers cited the plans sent by the Secretary of Education, 10% follows exactly the Secretary´s orientations, and 10% uses differentiated techniques without being known by the Secretary´s technicians.
Licensed teacher, level 8 (T8): “The Secretary sends the education plans ready and we must follow them to the letter. I do not like this because I cannot use different techniques. Everything is printed, which limits the student a lot. I do not have postgraduate in learning problems, but I detect that the students have difficulties which must be worked in a differentiated way. I talk to my colleagues to try to solve the difficulties I find in the content transmission.
80% of teachers use collective readings, text production, dramatization, poetry and songs in an attempt to motivate the student to learn. In 1990, the World Conference of Education for All was celebrated in Thailand with the aim of guiding reforms in education, fighting against illiteracy and for the fulfillment of the basic learning needs. According to UNESCO, education opportunities must be oriented to the learning basic needs, being reading, writing, speaking, calculus and problem solving necessary for human survival, dignity and quality of life. Thus, education must provide the basis and foundations to form and boost learning and permanent development of the human being (Oliveira, 2009, p. 38).
The teachers cited seem to be aware of the four pillars of education listed in the UNESCO conferences which are: learn to know, learn to do, learn to live together and learn to be. When the learn to do is evident, the professional qualification is important and must be wide so that the professional has competence and aptitude to face several differentiated situations and work as a team, but also learn to do, in the field of the several social or work experiences offered to the individuals, and learn to live together, developing the understanding of the other and the perception of differences (Oliveira, 2009, p. 39).
The research concludes that the teachers are concerned about the fact that their students have learning difficulties and search to reflect on their actions discussing with other professionals the methodology applied.
We can infer that the teacher, throughout his professional practice, looks for developing himself and to upgrade to improve his professional career. The difficulties found by the teachers in class change the school and the professional of education´s conception, and the teacher has the need of rethinking his teaching-pedagogical practices at school. It was observed that the teacher´s working conditions and the differences found at school make him search new methodologies to help his students to develop knowledge, even when following a plan made by professionals who are not in the school and do not know the reality of school life. The municipality where the research was carried out is very diversified in economic and cultural terms; thus, teachers need to know the reality of each student to fulfill their needs. The contents applied must be oriented to the students’ reality and not to abstraction.
A great need by the teachers to find something new to solve the students´ learning problems which end up compromising the general class development was observed. All the teachers were responsive to new ideas and they were concerned about their students with specific difficulties.
In some cases, we can see professionals who are not as committed to problem solving. They instead blame and throw responsibility of a student’s lack of learning onto others.
Schools still employ mechanical teaching-learning processes that do not enable the student to express their opinion. Knowledge is presented as “ready” for the student to reproduce it, without making much sense to them at times.
In conclusion, it is important for the teacher to take up the role of knowledge mediator and not one merely of ownership. The different realities and values of each one should be taken into consideration so as to innovate in their practice in this way (Silva, Giordani, Menotti, s.f., p. 3-4).
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