Teaching identity and primary education: the voice of the teachers

Abstract

The subject of this article is the production of teaching identities in the contexts of primary schools and aims to understand how this process occurs, supported particularly by the work of Maurice Tardif (2000, 2012), Maurice Tardif and Daniele Raymond (2000), Maria Manuela Alves Garcia, Álvaro Hypolito and Jarbas Vieira (2005). The research was conducted in 2013 and has a qualitative and quantitative character. The data processing used content analysis from the perspective of Laurence Bardin (1977). The data were produced using  a questionnaire presented to 50 primary education teachers at public or private schools in Porto Alegre and its metropolitan region. The responses from the teachers indicate that teaching identities are produced, within primary schools, from both pre-professional and professional experiences. Despite the influence of public policies and curriculum changes, education professionals have relative autonomy in their professional practice. In conclusion, it is observed that professional identities of teachers are produced from several factors and knowledges, tensions and contractions.