The impacts of continuous progression in teaching: an exploratory study on pedagogical practice in public schools

Abstract

The text is a result of reflections made by the authors in order to support the research that led to the dissertation defended by Torres (2004) and the expansion of the discussion of some data and conclusions that the study conducted. The study by Torres is consisted of a research focusing on pedagogical dimension of school work, examining how teachers perceive the impacts of continuous progression in their daily work. The exploratory nature of this research used a qualitative methodology, using questionnaires and interviews as tools for data collection. The research subjects were 39 teachers from elementary school of public state schools of São Paulo. They answered to the questionnaire and six were interviewed. The emphasis of the study is about the educational policies implemented by the government of Sao Paulo in the educational reform of the 1990s. From the data collected in research, it is developed a discussion about the changes introduced by the reform to modify the pedagogical practice of teachers. After discussing the obstacles to implement the continuous progression, especially the ones reflected on teaching practice, it was concluded that teachers, the subjects of this research, approved the continuous progression, even pointing out mistakes in its implementation by the responsible authorities.