Anais do 6º Encontro Celsul - Círculo de Estudos Lingüísticos do Sul
TÍTULO: INVESTIGATING A CONTINUING EDUACTION PROGRAMME:SOME OF THE MAIN
CONCERNS OF THE TEACHERS PARTICIPATING IN THE PECPISC PROGRAMME
Carla VALLE Rego de Sousa (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina)
ABSTRACT: Considering that the continuing education programmes seem to claim that they are providing
opportunities for teachers to express themselves in a more reflective way, this study has been carried out with
three main purposes: (1) to investigate whether “continuing education” can be used as a helpful tool that
really encourages teachers to reflect on their own practice, (2) to investigate what are the main
concerns/themes discussed by the teachers participating in the PECPISC programme, and (3) to investigate
whether these concerns/themes show that the teachers were going through a reflective process while attending
the meetings held at the programme.
This research presents through the teachers’ discourse, their reflections on their own practice as a
consequence of the issues discussed in the meetings at PECPISC programme, more specifically, a discussion
conducted by the present researcher where teachers were talking about several subjects regarding the
development of the projects carried out by them during this year (2003).
KEYWORDS: continuing education programme; teacher; themes; reflection.
RESUMO: Levando-se em consideração que os programas de educação continuada parecem
reivindicar como sendo estes umas das ferramentas criadoras de oportunidades dadas aos professores para que
se expressem de uma maneira mais reflexiva, esta pesquisa tem sido conduzida com os três seguintes
propósitos: (1) investigar se os programas de educação continuada podem ser usados como uma ferramenta de
ajuda que realmente incentiva, encoraja os professores a refletir sobre sua prática; (2) investigar os principais
temas que são discutidos pelos professores participantes do programa de educação continuada dos professores
de inglês do estado de Santa Catarina (PECPISC); e (3) investigar se o ato de discutir sobre esses temas pode
mostrar que os professores participantes do programa estão passando por um processo de reflexão.
Esta pesquisa apresenta através do discurso dos professores as reflexões dos mesmos acerca de sua
prática. E estas reflexões estão sendo consideradas como uma conseqüência dos temas discutidos nas reuniões
do PECPISC, mais especificamente em uma discussão conduzida pela presente pesquisadora onde os
professores participantes do programa discutiam diversos assuntos relativos ao desenvolvimento de projetos
feitos pelos próprios professores durante o ano de 2003.
PALAVRAS-CHAVES: programa de educação continuada; professor; temas; reflexão.
1. Introduction
As stated by Woods (1996), “there is still relatively little research on what the second language
teacher brings to the process of second language learning” (p. 2). That is, little attention has been given to the
role of the teacher inside the classroom. The teachers have been observed merely as tools used to follow and
apply methods previously prescribed in order to achieve successful learning. Most research aims at
perceiving and observing whether a method is implementing language learning success and failures (Woods,
1996), or if the teachers are applying the correct “technique”, “approach”, or “method”, instead of perceiving
“what” the teachers could bring to their classes through their own experience, and “how” the method could be
better applied with the teachers’ collaboration. Katz (1996) claims that the typologies cited above (techniques,
approach and method) “assume that the teacher acts as a cipher, an instrument that will apply ‘techniques’ in
some uniform and unobtrusive way” (p. 58). This situation has led teachers to do what they have to do
without questioning “what” and “why” they were doing and, even more importantly “how” they could do it in
a more effective way. Furthermore, Katz (1996) carried out a study where it was shown that teaching styles,
beliefs, goals and interpretations of syllabi affect the way the techniques and procedures are applied in the
classroom.
One of the solutions claimed by researchers to cope with the situation presented above was to encourage
teachers to reflect. Gimenez (1999) claims that “the 90’s is the decade of reflection on teacher education” (p.
130), that is, the decade that will encourage teachers to reflect on their own practice by questioning, thinking
about and sharing their success and failures with other teachers, and learning to learn in a collaborative way in
order to enhance their own professional development. According to Berkey, Curtis, Minnick, Zietlow,
Campbell and Kirschner (1990),“reflective thought should be a natural part of teaching theory and practice for
it can result in increased student learning and significant professional growth. It has the power to restore one’s
professionalism and pride in being a teacher” (p. 223).
Considering that the continuing education programmes seem to claim that they are providing
opportunities for teachers to express themselves in a more reflective way, this study was carried out with three
main purposes: (1) to investigate whether “continuing education” can be used as a helpful tool that really
encourages teachers to reflect on their own practice, (2) to investigate what are the main concerns/themes
discus sed by the teachers participating in the PECPISC programme, more specifically in a discussion
conducted by the present researcher where teachers were talking about several subjects regarding the
development of the projects carried out by them during this year, and (3) to investigate whether these
concerns/themes show that the teachers were going through a reflective process while attending the meetings
held at the programme.
This paper is organized into five sections. Section 2 reviews the literature important to substantiate
this study. Section 3 describes the procedures used to collect and analyze data. Section 4 presents the
discussions and the results. Section 5 presents the conclusions of the study together with its limitations.
2. Review of the Literature
According to Zeichner & Liston (1990), teacher education should aim directly at developing teachers
who are able to identify and articulate their purposes. Teachers should be able to choose what is suitable for
their students regarding their (the students) cultural and cognitive orientation. Teachers should be able to give
good reasons for their actions. Thus, they could feel free to use the methods or procedures that they feel
appropriate. Due to these facts, continuing education could be considered as a way of encouraging teachers to
learn permanently and, thus, reflect. As stated by Mateus (2002), “o aprendiz permanente é o curioso
permanente, movido pelo prazer da descoberta e pela coragem de descartar antigas fórmulas” (p. 5). The
author argues that learning is not a skill that is finished, that people can accomplish as a full package of
knowledge. In fact, learning evolves and it can be created and recreated all the time.
Concerning “reflection”, Dewey (1933, in Gimenez 1999, p. 130) characterizes it as a specialized
form of “thinking”. Celani (2003) complements by saying that “reflexão é o processo ou resultado de pensarse de maneira séria, aprofundada sobre experiências pessoais, particularmente as priorizadas ou valorizadas”
(p. 226). In this respect Gimenez (1999)says that , “the ELT field it has been suggested that both pre-service
and in-service courses should adopt reflective approaches” (p. 31). And she ponders when this reflection
should really happen, that is, what is the most suitable mo ment in which it should occur in teachers’
professional development. That author argues that the moment of reflection can occur before, during or after
action. Corresponding to interaction with students would be “reflection-in-action”, and planning and postlesson thoughts would be “reflection-on-action”. “ Reflection-on-action would occur after the fact” (Gimenez,
1999, p. 131). Moreover, the author states that the major problem would be identifying the correct moment of
reflection-in-action, when people are “in the thick of things” (Gimenez, 1999, p. 131).
As important as establishing the “time” of reflection is establishing the “mode” of reflection
(Gimenez, 1999). It could be also asked if reflection is an activity to be comprehended as being pursued in
isolation by the teachers, or as a social practice developed in a collaborative group involving communities of
teachers (Gimenez, 1999). Berkey et al. (1990) claim that one of the major difficulties to encourage teachers
to reflect is the way in which they pursue the reflection process as a private activity done in isolation from
other participants. According to the cited authors, “for reflection to be an effective avenue toward professional
development, it is necessary that it occur in supportive group context rather than in isolation” (Berkey et al.,
1990, p. 207). Zeichner & Liston (1990) claim that reflective teaching is a social practice that is dependent
upon interactions with others. Reflective teaching must be developed in a collaborative way.
In order to establish a connection between the teachers and their motivation to become more
reflective, continuing education emerges as an extremely significant tool. Mateus (2002) states that “é preciso
formar pessoas capazes de questionar os conhecimentos tidos como verdadeiros e de propor novas
elaborações” (p. 3). Therefore, it is essential to provide teachers with opportunities for learning systematically
and constantly.
3. Procedures
3.1 - Context
This research is based on data collected at the in-service programme Programa de Educação
Continuada dos Professores de Inglês do Estado de Santa Catarina (PECPISC). This project has been
organized by the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) with the assistance of Secretaria de
Educação in order to improve teaching standards among state English teachers in Florianópolis. The main
characteristics of the programme are:
a) the integration between the state schools and the University;
b) the chance of providing the state teachers with the opportunity to construct or re-construct their
understanding of their own teaching practices through the different opportunities offered by the
programme (Biazi, Carazzai, Denardi, Furtado, Gil, Moreira, and Neves, 2002, p. 1); and
c) to provide the state teachers a space where they can reflect, discuss, share experiences and research
about their own practice.
The PECPISC programme was implemented in March of the year 2000 and in 2003 activities have
been developed in an 7-hour monthly meeting throughout the year, for the 30 participating teachers enrolled
in the programme. A coordinating staff and guest lecturers monitor the activities.
The seminars are conducted on the following topics: Methodology, Teaching Materials, Working
with Classroom Projects, Speaking and Listening Skills , Reading and Writing Skills, Video in the Classroom,
among others.
In order to collect data, one of the meetings held at the cited programme, which happened on
September 24th, was videotaped.
3.2 Data Collection
The method used to collect data was to observe the meetings held at the PECPISC programme, more
specifically a discussion conducted by the present researcher where teachers were talking about several
subjects regarding the development of the projects carried out by them during this year (2003), using
ethnographic methods (observation, video recording and, transcriptions).
During the first semester the projects were developed by the state teachers with the assistance of the
PECPISC coordinators: an M.A. student of an English program at the Universidade Federal de Santa
Catarina, a professor at the same university, and a state teacher and a representative of Secretaria de Educação
de Santa Catarina. This task intended mainly to give opportunity to the teachers to think, analyze, select and
decide what kind of activities were more suitable to their students, and at the same time to be aware of the
purposes of such activities.
The state teachers worked in 7 groups of 4 or 5 participants. In order to help teachers to understand
and create their own pro jects, the coordinators presented an introductory activity entitled as a “mini-project”.
The “mini-project” consisted of six activities related to the theme “friendship”. The first activity was related
to “vocabulary”, the second one was a “poem”, the third one was a “grammar” activity, the fourth one was an
activity entitled “Who’s so and so?”, the fifth one was a “song” and the last activity was a closing one in
order to make students aware of their learning process. The teachers did the six activities in order to have a
better comprehension of what they were supposed to do when developing their own projects. The
coordinators’ main purpose was to show the state teachers the steps that should be followed by them during
the process of developing their projects. After that, the teachers started coming out with elaborating some
ideas of themes in order to carry out their own projects. As there were 7 groups, 7 themes were suggested and
chosen by the teachers and the coordinators: (1) Food, (2) Health, (3) Family, (4) Famous People, (5)
Animals, (6) Water, and (7) Living in Peace. During the months of August, September, October and
November, the teachers were presenting their projects, and at the end of each presentation all the participants
and the coordinators gave their feedback by discussing about the projects that were presented, reporting their
opinions and criticism about each project. During one of the discussion sections held at the PECPISC
programme, this researcher conducted a round table in order to discuss the development of the projects
throughout this year.
3.3 Data Analysis
The data were analysed qualitatively mainly through the teachers’ discourse, using the teachers´
perspective (emic perspective). According to Watson-Gegeo (1998, p. 579), “each situation investigated by an
ethnographer must be understood from the perspective of the participants in that situation”.
For this study, a meeting of the cited programme (PECPISC) where the participants were discussing
about the development of their projects throughout this year was videotaped. There were about 20 teachers at
that meeting. The present researcher, who posed six questions in order to stimulate the conversation,
conducted the discussion. The conductor and the participants discussed the questions posed in Portuguese.
The questions are:
1 – Descreva a sua maior dificuldade na elaboração do projeto.
(Describe your main difficulties in elaborating a project)
2 – Como você tem vivenciado o desenvolvimento do projeto? Reflita e comente sobre o trabalho em
equipe, a elaboração e a apresentação do projeto.
(How have you experienced the development of the projects? Reflect and make comments regarding
the following issues: (1) team work, (2) the elaboration and the presentation of the project.)
3 – Descreva o processo de seleção das atividades do seu projeto.
(Describe the process of selecting the activities included in your project.)
4 – Na sua opinião, até que ponto o entendimento do propósito de uma atividade auxilia a decidir se
esta atividade será útil ou não dentro do projeto?
(In your opinion, up to what extent does understanding the purpose of an activity help you to decide
whether or not it will be useful in your project?)
5 – Como você vê o grau de comprometimento de sua equipe para com o projeto?
(How do you evaluate your classmates’ commitment to the development of the project?)
6 – Qual a sua opinião acerca das discussões ao final da apresentação do projeto? Reflita e comente
sobre a validade destas discussões.
(What is your opinion about ht e discussions at the end of each presentation? Reflect and make
comments on their validity.)
As the teachers were discussing the questions above, some themes were elicited regarding the
teachers’ main concerns about their own practice. The first theme is related to the project development
adequacy and feasibility. When discussing about how the projects had been carried out, the teachers seemed
to wish they could decide and develop what they consider as being suitable for their students, and at the same
time, teachers mentioned their willingness to be aware of the purposes of the activities that they usually give
to their students.
While discussing the first questions, posed by the researcher, the first theme presented above came to
the discussion, and one of the teachers, Emerson mentioned that:
Eu penso que quando a gente coloca alguma coisa no projeto, a gente tem que pensar realmente, vai
dar certo ou não vai, né? Não é pra encher lingüiça, digamos assim. Porque não adianta você dar um
exercício complicadíssimo, que o aluno não vai pegar o que tu tas tentando passar pra ele.
Another teacher, Eliseu alleged that:
Tem que se antecipar à aceitação, se antecipar, prever a reação do aluno, a aceitação dele. Pelo grupo
de aluno que se destina, dependendo do nível, da série, bem como a sua utilidade. A melhor maneira
de definir e ver a aplicabilidade do resultado desse projeto, é no dia-a-dia desses alunos. Ele (o
aluno) vai levar alguma coisa que vai ultrapassar as fronteiras da sala de aula?
The claims stated above by the two teachers seem to show their concerns in assuming their role not
merely as a tool used to apply techniques or methods in the classroom (Katz, 1996), but as professionals that
are aware of their role in choosing, deciding and applying what is, according to their own experience and
background, more suitable for their students.
The second theme is related to the teachers’ purposes and objectives of attending the PECPISC
meetings. Specifically, the teachers seemed to be participating in the programme in order to learn new things,
to share ideas and experience.
In relation to the second theme discussed by the teachers, one of the participants at the videotaped
meeting, when discussing question 5, alleged that one of the most significant aspects concerning attending the
meetings held at the programme was to learn new things, share ideas and experience with the other
participants. The cited teacher, Méri said that:
Eu adquiri vocabulário, eu aprendi coisas que eu não, que eu nem imaginava aprender. É um
enriquecimento tão grande, quando você tá com os colegas, e vem e se propõe, com esforço adquirir
conhecimento e passar isso, eu acho que é muito bom. Eu procuro a cada encontro pegar alguns
exercícios interessantes pra fazer com os meus aluninhos lá de quinta e sexta séries. Eu já recebi
elogios dos colegas, dos diretores.
Berkey et al., (1990) state that when we, as teachers, are more confident in our knowledge and
beliefs, we feel more responsible for reflecting on what we think, what we do, and how we can continue to
improve.
The third theme is related to the teachers’ attitudes when attending the PECPISC meetings. The
presence of this theme might show that the teachers seemed to have been sharing their best and work in a
collaborative way while attending the PECPISC meetings.
In this respect, Méri, emphasizes the importance of teachers sharing their best when creating and
developing the activities in the programme, and while working as a group:
Quem sabe daqui uns anos eu possa apresentar minhas próprias experiências, e espero só crescer. E
isso eu espero também que os outros tenham esse tipo de consciência, que a gente vem aqui pra
crescer, pra somar, pra intervir no momento certo. Eu acho que a palavra chave é assim, intervir pra
interagir com os colegas.
Eliseu complemented his colleagues’ ideas by saying that:
O mais bonito de tudo isso aí é que se você, normalmente, tudo o que você trouxe aqui com certeza
você apresentou, ou tem intenção, ou teria intenção de apresentar na tua escola. Então você vai
apresentar alguma coisa para um grande grupo. Você vai querer dar o melhor de si, apresentar o
melhor que você pode fazer. Você vai trazer o que você tem de melhor pra cá. Só o fato disso, de
você compartilhar o que você fez de melhor, é um ato muito bonito. Eu acho que isso aí, poucas
vezes eu acredito que aconteça, você dar o que tem de melhor, compartilhar com os colegas.
The teachers’ commitment to the collaborative work can be seen through the teachers’ discourse, and
it can be considered as a way of increasing professional growth and acquiring knowledge.
According to Berkey et al. (1990), some reasons for choosing to work in a collaborative way are due
to the fact that when we want to learn new knowledge, collaboration will provide us with an opportunity to
learn more as a group of people than we could as individuals. And the authors keep saying that “we knew that
as a community of learners, we would be more motivated, stimulated, and energized with each other” (p.
216).
Finally, the fourth theme is related to the teachers’ discoveries when attending the PECPISC
meetings. That is, the teachers seemed to have noticed that when working in a group/collaboratively, they feel
more confident, powerful, and not alone. One of the teachers, for example, mentioned that she felt more
confident since she joined the programme. Vera said that due to that, she became aware of the importance of
the discipline that she teaches, English as a foreign language:
A gente mesmo se valorizou mais. Hoje nós brigamos no conselho de classe, “a minha matéria é tão
importante quanto às outras”. Deu essa segurança.
Moreover, another teacher, Inês expressed their her sensation of not feeling lonely anymore, and at
the same time, she mentioned that she was feeling more confident about their her practice when she stated
that:
Eu não me sinto sozinha. Eu tinha uma resistência em trabalhar com projetos, eu achava impossível,
e com essa questão da gente poder estar em contato com outras idéias, a gente consegue ver que dá
pra fazer diferente. E é muito importante na nossa atuação em sala de aula principalmente. E essa
troca com os colegas é muito confortável pra gente. A gente pode estar contando com idéias tão
simples e exeqüíveis. Isso dá uma moral.
And she comple ments saying that when working in groups, the teachers can get more respect from
the other teachers, and besides that, they can achieve the objectives in an easier way:
A gente como grupo têm mais respeito. Sempre em grupo é mais fácil de conseguir as coisas.
In this respect, Berkey et al., (1990) state that when we, as teachers, are more confident of our
knowledge and beliefs, we feel more responsible for reflecting on what we think, what we do, and how we
can continue to improve.
4. Conclusion
This study investigated whether “continuing education” could be used as a helpful tool that really
encourages teachers to reflect on their own practice. Moreover, this research presented through the teachers’
discourse, their reflections on their own practice as a consequence of the issues discussed in the meetings at
the cited programme, more specifically, a discussion conducted by the present researcher where teachers were
talking about several subjects regarding the development of the projects carried out by them during the year
2003.
Through the analysis of the discourse of the teachers, it was possible to demonstrate their concerns
about “what” they have been selecting and developing as activities in their classrooms, and “how” they have
been doing that. The teachers seem to be aware that they are the ones who are in charge of, and at the same
time, responsible for making decisions in their professional lives. Furthermore, they confirmed their will to
improve their knowledge through collaborative work, sharing their best as much as possible. In addition, as
the discussion conducted by the present researcher was being carried out, it could be noticed that the teachers
really wanted to be heard because all the participants in the discussion seemed to express their opinions in a
very confident way. In the words of Nunan (1996, p. 55), “to understand what is going on in language
classrooms the voices of the teachers must be heard”. Therefore, one of the ways through which the teachers’
voice could be heard would be to start reflecting on their own practice in order to enhance their own
empowerment (Berkey et al., 1990).
Finally, Mateus (2002, p. 4) states that “reforço a participação reflexiva e crítica dos professores, sem
a qual não poderão por si só dar conta de mediar os saberes em transformação”. That is, in order to improve
their knowledge, and to have their own voices heard, the teachers should be aware that reflecting about their
own practice in a collaborative way is one of the key words for their professio nal development.
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