Narrativas sobre a docência na Educação Infantil: Contribuições de um grupo colaborativo para o trabalho com o senso espacial de uma professora iniciante

Abstract

This master's dissertation, developed within the Graduate Program in Education (PPGE) at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), in the research line Teacher Education and Other Educational Agents, seeks to understand the meanings and experiences of an early childhood beginning teacher regarding the development of spatial sense in her pedagogical practices, considering the implications of her longitudinal participation in a collaborative study group. To this end, within the context of data production and based on a qualitative research approach, a narrative interview with a beginning teacher was analyzed, focusing on her experiences and relationship with Mathematics in Early Childhood Education during her first years of teaching. The narrative analysis was grounded in the six theoretical and methodological steps proposed by Fritz Schütze (2013), identifying categories related to initial teacher education, engagement in research contexts, participation in collaborative groups, and the construction of meanings concerning Mathematics and the development of spatial sense in Early Childhood Education. In addition to the narrative interview, the study involved participant observation conducted by the researcher within the collaborative group of which the interviewed teacher is a member. The analyses revealed that the participant's professional development occurs through continuous processes of reorganizing experience, integrating initial teacher education, engagement in research contexts, participation in collective learning spaces, and pedagogical practice. The findings indicate that the development of spatial sense plays a structuring role in the pedagogical practices developed with children, guiding the organization of spaces and time, interactions, and mathematical experiences in Early Childhood Education. Thus, this research contributes to discussions on the education of beginning teachers in the field of Mathematics Education by highlighting the importance of participation in collaborative and research-oriented contexts for the construction of more reflective and intentional pedagogical practices.