Cecília Galvão

Narrativas em Educação

A narrativa, sob forma oral ou escrita, pode constituir um metodo poderoso de investigacao em educacao. Neste texto abordarei o conceito de narrativa, tendo por base fundamentos de diversos autores. A analise narrativa constituira um aspecto relevante e sera ilustrada com historias recolhidas a partir de investigacao realizada com professoras em inicio de carreira. Serao apresentadas duas perspectivas de analise, sendo uma delas adotada na apresentacao de outras historias que ajudam a compreender as potencialidades da narrativa em estudos com professores. Uma das perspectivas assenta num modelo de analise de conteudo em que diferentes momentos de evolucao dos acontecimentos, correspondendo a significados do discurso tambem diferentes, sao evidenciados e interpretados. Outra perspectiva tem por base um modelo sociolinguistico de analise (Labov, 1972-1982), constituindo uma estrutura mais rigida, mas permitindo por em evidencia determinadas caracteristicas do discurso que ajudam a analisa-lo mais em profundidade. Apresentam-se tambem tres potencialidades da narrativa - como processo de investigacao em educacao, como processo de reflexao pedagogica e como processo de formacao - ilustradas com episodios relatados por professores.

Reflecting on Scientists' Activity Based on Science Fiction Stories Written by Secondary Students

In this article the authors resort to a qualitative analysis of the plot of science fiction stories about a group of scientists, written by two 11th‐grade Earth and Life Science students (aged 17), and to semi‐structured interviews, with the double purpose of diagnosing their conceptions of the nature of science (namely, as regards scientists’ activity), and discussing the potentialities of this methodology in terms of research and education in science. The adopted methodology proved particularly effective in diagnosing the students’ conceptions of scientists’ characteristics, scientific activity, and science–technology–society interactions. The limited content of certain conceptions and a certain lack of knowledge on the part of the students concerning the processes and the epistemology of science highlight the need to pay explicit attention in science classes to the nature of scientific activity. Some of the ideas brought up by the students clearly show the influence of stereotypes and catastrophic scenarios depicted in films, television programs, and books, revealing media’s limitations when divulging scientific and technological themes to the general public and stressing the need for the school to promote a critical debate about science and technology images conveyed by the media.

Promoting Science Outdoor Activities for Elementary School Children: Contributions from a research laboratory

The purposes of the study were to analyse the promotion of scientific literacy through practical research activities and to identify childrens conceptions about scientists and how they do science. Elementary school children were engaged in two scientific experiments in a marine biology research laboratory. A total of 136 students answered a questionnaire about their previous habits towards science and carried out the following actions: (1) a guided visit to the laboratory, (2) a brief presentation of the research theme, (3) the development of two experiments, and (4) a questionnaire about the experiments and science conceptions. The research methods included observation, document analysis, and content analysis of the answers to the questionnaires. Additionally, each visit was video recorded in order to design learning materials. The results revealed that most of the pupils were able to follow every stage of experimentation. However, some of them misinterpreted results and conclusions. One implication of the study is that this type of outdoor activity is extremely important to promote meaningful science learning in children, but more care should be taken in practical science activities so that children can overcome some common difficulties when performing scientific inquiry.

A discussão de controvérsias sociocientíficas na formação de professores

Resumo: A promocao da compreensao da natureza da ciencia constitui um dos eixos fundamentais dos curriculos de ciencias actuais, procurando que os alunos entendam a producao do conhecimento cientifico e tomem decisoes sobre assuntos de base cientifica com impacto directo na sua vida. Contudo, a investigacao demonstra que os professores nao integram esta vertente no seu ensino, comprometendo as aprendizagens dos alunos sobre esta tematica. Num outro sentido, a investigacao atribui potencialidades a discussao de assuntos sociocientificos controversos na escola na construcao de uma imagem de ciencia mais real. Com este estudo, pretende-se compreender como e que um conjunto de 29 professores-formandos, de um mestrado em Educacao, avalia as potencialidades deste tipo de metodologia. Apesar das avaliacoes bastante positivas, constata-se a necessidade de continuar a apoiar estes professores na implementacao destas actividades com os seus alunos de modo a desenvolverem o conhecimento necessario a sua implementacao. Palavras-chave: Formacao de professores. Ensino de Ciencias. Discussao. Controversias socio-cientificas.

Curriculum Conception, Implementation and Evaluation: An Experience

Aligned with the new trends in curriculum studies, the Portuguese physical and natural sciences curriculum of basic education was reorganised by introducing several new ideas and principles, such as the notion of competence, the development of adequate learning experiences, an emphasis on formative assessment of students and the idea of flexible management of the curriculum. In order to promote changes in teachers’ practices and conceptions, the reorganisation of the curriculum involved a complex process of implementation. However, this process of curriculum change was stopped abruptly due to a change in government. This chapter’s goals are to describe the process of curriculum change, how teachers interpret and implement the science curriculum and the factors that affect the way the curriculum is implemented. We analysed data from three types of studies: (a) a nationwide study focused on teachers’ perspectives regarding the science curriculum, (b) a meta-analysis of several comprehensive Portuguese studies and (c) a multiple case study involving five schools. Results show that teachers modified certain practices not according to the original intentions of the curriculum, but according to how they perceived and experienced some of the constraints and their educational and school contexts. These results support the idea that it is essential to create structures capable of responding to the emerging training needs of teachers. The creation of communities of practice involving educational researchers and teachers may facilitate discussion and reflection about the curriculum, providing teachers with resources to accomplish innovations and for providing them with feedback about the work they are developing.

Os anúncios das vozes de professoras em memorial de formação docente on-line

The article presents thoughts over autobiographical reports from Elementary School teachers, elaborated under the form of training-research memorials during their participation in a distance learning course. The theoretical and methodological framework adopted in