BACHELOR TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL TEACHER IDENTITY

Abstract

Given the strong growth of Higher Education in Brazil in the last three decades, characterized by the increase in the number of institutions, courses, enrollments and teaching functions, this article, resulting from a master's research, sought to identify, from the perspective of ten professors graduates who work in a large public university in Minas Gerais, how their professional teaching identity is constituted. A qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research was carried out. From the content analysis of the semi-structured interviews, five categories of analysis were arrived at: Teacher knowledge; Life's history; Insertion in the University and the student's profile; Some challenges and possibilities – the reality in the classroom and Beliefs about teacher professional identity. In this article we present subcategories of Teaching Knowledge. The analysis showed that the subjects recognize that the knowledge coming from the initial bachelor's degree courses are not able to understand all the complexity involved in the knowledge necessary for teaching. They also reveal the feeling that they need to be able to build new knowledge and give new meaning to the existing ones in their pedagogical practice. However, they reveal the inexistence of an institutional policy to support teachers that contemplates systematic actions that will fill their training deficit. Thus, understanding that the constitution of the professional teaching identity is subjective, but also collective, we conclude that it is essential that Higher Education Institutions turn their gaze to the continuing education of their teaching staff, in order to welcome and support teachers in their professional development.