A continuing professional development course for teachers as a setting for action research: an experience report

Abstract

The paper deals with action research in the ongoing training of in-service teachers. As a study object, we took as a base the activities carried out in an updating course offered to the managers of the state’s public network, which are located in the Itapetininga Regional Directory, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The report of the experience was the methodology used for analysis, since we started from the lived experiences to explore possible meanings for a continuous formation that motivates to investigate one’s everyday. Based on a recently published chapter on “pedagogical knowledge”, the updating course discussed the professionalization of teachers, work contingencies and self-training. Developed under voluntary participation, we have seen that the fact that the course has been attended by more than 40 managers, we conclude that subjects such as pedagogical knowledge matter in the daily life of schools. In the end, it is hoped by the sharing of this experience that new and more substantiated ways of developing action research in schools are established, not only in the interior of São Paulo but in all places where education is present.