Continuous Education for Teachers in Early Childhood Education: an analysis of two municipalities in the interior of the State of Paraná

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to investigate continuous education of teachers working in early childhood education in two municipalities of the region known as Pioneer North of the state of Paraná. Both institutions took part in a university outreach program developed by the Education Postgraduate Program of a public university of the state of Paraná, funded by the Araucaria Foundation. From an integrative literature review and the researchers’ experience with the group, the initial hypothesis was that, for being a group exclusively made up of women, inequalities and gender issues impacted directly in those teachers’ pedagogical practices. The problem guiding the investigation was “how to promote the valorization of those professionals and of early childhood education? How to qualify teachers’ practices in that phase of basic education?” Considering these questions, the main objective of this article was to investigate the relationship between continuous education and teaching practices in early childhood education from the conceptions held by part of those teachers. The data collection occurred during the continuous education program that held six meetings, and the guidance for the elaboration of Teacher-Student Work Plans in the Historical-Critical Pedagogy Perspective. The teachers that took part in the study emphasized the importance of collective and permanent continuous education to strengthen their teaching practice. They also pointed out that such initiatives promote collective sharing and search for alternatives to overcome challenges more confidently as well as awareness of the educational intention and the pedagogical knowledge acquired.