Identidade docente: o sentido de ser docente e a significação da sua escolha

Abstract

This work aims to study and reflect on teaching identity. The theme is very broad and very important, since the discussion does not usually form part of the routine of schools. The research seeks to delineate what leads a person to choose teaching as a profession, to remain there for a long period of their life and to demonstrate through the brightness of their eyes, their wish to pursue further reflection on the identity and the knowledge needed for teaching practice. The central focus is the extent of personal choice and the staying on in teaching. It examines, through the data collected from teachers involved in the research, what motivates them, what encourages the teacher to perform his/her activity, the significance and the meaning of being teachers. The research counts on the participation of educators from the municipal teaching network of Estância Velha, and highlights that there is no way to separate the life story from its representations and knowledge, and in which ways these issues reflect upon attitudes in everyday school life in different relations. The analysis of the problem is deepened through readings that regard the issue of choosing the teaching career, as the way the professional builds up his/her teaching identity. It attempts to assume and interpret the contribution of the texts by Miguel Arroyo, Antonio Nóvoa, Selma Garrido Pimenta, Maurice Tardif, José Carlos Libâneo among others. Although the reflection on the issue will not be completed in this dissertation, the objective is to understand the relationship of the professional in the education field with their teaching activity, so that this work might be used in studies and discussions that aim the improvement in education.