Professional training: representations of teachers trained in service

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a descriptive study carried out with graduate teachers of teacher training course, who were trained in service. The study sought to answer the following research problem: how do teachers who completed the courses in Education, Languages and Mathematics of the UNAMA Special Program for Teaching Degrees during the period 2000-2002, evaluate their training? The theoretical framework is based on the ideas of Nóvoa (1992), Veiga (2002) and Ramalho, Nunez and Gauthier (2004) on teacher education, and of Tardif, Lessard and Lahaye (1991), Gauthier et al (1998) and Tardif (2000) on teachers’ knowledge. A questionnaire and interviews with a focal group were the main data collection tools used. The results indicate that unlike courses that have diffi culty giving teachers an adequate training, the courses offered by the Program in question were of high quality, despite the diffi culties inherent to in-service training.