Saberes docentes na educação popular: as experiências dos educadores de ciências da natureza na rede podemos +

Abstract

This dissertation presents an investigation grounded in my personal and academic experiences, which fostered my interest in collective educational practices and in the transformative potential of Popular Education. The study aimed to understand in what way or ways experiences in Popular Education contribute to the construction of teachers knowledge. A qualitative approach was adopted, based on semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Bardin’s (2011) Content Analysis. The theoretical framework was organized into three axes: Popular Education as a political-pedagogical conception, the principles of grassroots work inspired by Paulo Freire (apud Peloso, 2012), and teaching knowledge as discussed by Tardif (2014). The findings revealed that pedagogical practice in popular preparatory courses intertwines political, community, and organizational dimensions, shaping formative processes that break away from traditional school logic. The study identified the emergence of what I have termed “militant teaching knowledge,” grouped into four categories: welcoming and collectivity, political mediation, contradiction and self-criticism, and critical reading and engagement. Within Science teaching, the results suggest possibilities for overcoming disciplinary fragmentation, reorienting the curriculum based on critical readings of local territories, and integrating popular knowledge in dialogue with science. Overall, the research indicates that Popular Education, understood as a political-pedagogical conception, can be considered a relevant horizon for reimagining Science teaching, by projecting educational practice beyond content transmission toward critical, community-based, and emancipatory formation. Although tensions remain, such as fragile collective structures and material limitations, the findings suggest that the Podemos + Popular Preparatory Network tends to configure itself as a space for teacher education and for the dispute of social projects, where educators and students may constitute themselves as historical, critical, and engaged subjects.