FORMATIVA NEEDS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION TEACHERS IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL: BODY, GESTURES AND MOVEMENTS

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the professional development needs of teachers who develop activities related to body, gestures and movements in the early childhood education context in the city of Teresina, Piauí. Nine teachers with a degree in Pedagogy, who work in early childhood education at a city-run public school, participated in the research. Questionnaires and training workshops were used as instruments to generate data, and the analysis was conducted using the technique of Content Analysis from Bardin. The results highlighted seven key themes: gaps in the professional development, the absence of a Physical Education teacher, focus on reading and writing, the teacher overwork, full-time schools and lack of infrastructure, real and abstract possibility, and the importance of the Physical Education teacher. The typologies of professional development needs expressed were discrepancies or gaps, diagnostic, and possibilities. The absence of appropriate initial and continuing training, as well as infrastructure, reinforces the need for a Physical Education teacher in early childhood education. Full-time schools, focus on reading and writing, and teacher overwork reveal the context in which the teachers are situated. Thus, this research enabled the identification of teachers’ professional development needs and, through training workshops, promoted reflections about teaching practices. Moreover, it reinforces that the early childhood education curriculum should be rethought creating space to include the Physical Education teacher in this educational level.