Esses estágios foram a chave para a minha formação docente: futuros professores de línguas adicionais na escola pública

Abstract

This research aims at understanding the impact of our teaching practicum at public schools during our undergraduate program on our constitution as additional languages teachers. In the Additional Languages Teacher Education Program: English, Spanish and their Literatures (Curso de Licenciatura em Letras Línguas Adicionais: Inglês, Espanhol e Respectivas Literaturas), at Universidade Federal do Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Campus Bagé, there are the courses Teaching Practicum at School I, Spanish Language (Estágio em Contexto Escolar I, Língua Espanhola) and Teaching Practicum at School II, English Language (Estágio em Contexto Escolar II, Língua Inglesa), respectively in the 5th and 6th semesters. I took part in both practicums, along with other classmates, in 2017 and, after taking into consideration the reflections we have had about our teaching experiences at schools, I came up with the idea of this Undergraduate Thesis (Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso). In this sense, the participants of this research are the future language teachers who participated in both practicums in 2017, including myself. I have applied two data collection tools: an online questionnaire with fifteen questions and a video production with some guiding questions. In this research, the participants, as student teachers, have reported their stories related to their choice of being additional language teachers; their learning process with the experiences in their supervised practicums; and the possible contributions of their teaching practicums to their teaching careers as future language teachers. This research is based on pertinent literature (NÓVOA, 1992; CELANI, 2001; DUTRA; OLIVEIRA, 2006; BORTONI-RICARDO, 2008; among others). Based on the data collected, it is possible to notice that the participants of this research believe that the opportunity of experiencing themselves as teachers in public schools is positive in our education as teachers. They also report that there are moments in which we can discover ourselves as teachers, that is, it is when we are able to see ourselves as teachers. Besides, the research participants reflect on the fact that there are negative and positive situations to be faced, but having opportunities to access a part of the real world of schools and students contributes to our professional education, as a consequence, we can review our practices and improve our teaching skills. There is also evidence to argue that teaching is a moment of continuous self evaluation and that we can learn to adapt ourselves to different situations, for example, being in contact with diverse groups of students and having the sensibility of ad

justing our classes to them. In this context, we recognize the difficulties faced by teachers and how it may affect our pedagogical practices; however, this fact helps us constitute our identity as additional languages teachers.