Action research and the training of non-teaching staff within the school from a Freirean perspective

Abstract

The educational work developed in schools does not depend only on teaching professionals. Other subjects participate in the school dynamics and are essential in the daily lives of institutions such as employees who work in cleaning and cooking, camp supervisors and other support professionals who, in most educational units, remain apart from the discussions and decisions that contribute to the construction of the Political-Pedagogical Project and, in particular, do not participate in the training processes developed there, thus reinforcing the invisibility condition of these nonteaching professionals. The aim of this article is to analyze how an investigation based on the action research methodology contributed to overcoming the invisibility experienced by non-teaching staff at a public school. In addition to that, it is proposed for discussion how Paulo Freire’s educational theory that supported the training carried out with cleaning professionals is related to the methodological strategy of action research.