Pedagogy and Pedagogues in Non-School Spaces: Notes from a summary of empirical research

Abstract

The paper presents notes about a study of the education of teachers in the realm of non-school education, in relation to epistemological meanings of pedagogy and knowledge and professional skills needed for non-school pedagogical practices. The research was conducted in two phases: 1) content analysis was conducted of 20 curriculum for teacher education programs in Brazil; 2) data analysis was conducted of 38 virtual questionnaires responded to by teachers who work or have worked in non-school spaces. The research results indicate that, content about non-school spaces in the curricular documents is characterized by dispersion, profusion, lack of specificity, lack of articulation with the general objectives and curricular organization of teacher education courses and is little considered in classes and teacher education programs. In contrast, the data collected with teachers indicates that the approach to professional knowledge and abilities during their initial teacher education, requires that they participate in socialization experiences and build knowledge to develop a more substantial educational profile based on a broad concept of the teaching profession.