"E aí, está preparado pra poder dar aula?": a voz discente na construção do perfil do bom professor de português

Abstract

The present work presents the research developed within the scope of the Postgraduate Program in Linguistics of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), whose main objective was to unveil the profile of the good Portuguese language teacher. In addition to the assumptions of Applied Linguistics (MOITA LOPES, 2006, RAJAGOPOLAN, 2003, 2006, RAPTON, 2006, KUMARAVADIVELU, 2006, we are also based on the qualitative methodology (FLICK, 2009, CHIZZOTI, 2010). The data analyzes in this work was generated through 4 focus groups (BARBOUR, 2009), composed by undergratuate students in Literature and Languages, in which three topics were discussed: i) what it is to be a good Portuguese teacher, ii ) what kind of knowledge is important to the construction of this professional, and iii) which experiences in the training course contribute to the construction of a good Portuguese teacher. We have based our analysis in the assumptions of Experientialist Linguistics (LAKOFF, 1987), which discusses the relationship between language and experience of the subject in the construction of meaning. The characterization of a good Portuguese teacher is anchored under three dimensions: what he should be, what he should have and what he should do, which emphasizes, mainly, actions related to his ability to promote the student's engagement in the classroom and to adapt to the school´s reality. In the same sense, the positive experiences of formation experienced by the students synthesize the work of the teacher and his actions in the classroom. The results show us, therefore, that his profile is relativized taking in consideration the way he realizes his most immediate practice,that is, to teach. The data also suggest that the students entering the course anchor themselves in the experience as students to describe what is a good teacher and the students that are almost graduating put themselves ,in some cases, in the student´s position and in other cases, in the teacher´s position. We believe that this difference is due to the immersion of the latter in other training practices experienced during the course (internship, scientific initiation fellowships and professional training). Therefore, we discuss the importance of thinking about new, more coherent and innovative models and practices for initial teacher education, as also pointed out by Nóvoa (1995, 2009) and Sacristán (1995), Tardiff (2005) and Gatti (2010) that enlarge the the way teaching is seen. In particular, this research has as a fundamental gain the inclusion of the voice of future teachers in the discussion about their own training practice, increasing the channel of dialogue between the different agents that build the profile of the Portuguese teacher.