The training and the work of the pedagogical coordinator: by an epistemology of the coordinating practice

Abstract

This study, which is based on two ongoing researches, addresses issues related to initial training, continuing education and the work of pedagogical coordinators who work in basic education schools. It points out some challenges presented in the training and in the work of the pedagogical coordinator and also other paths for this training at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Priority was given to studies that problematize aspects related to the training and the work of those professionals who carry out pedagogical management in primary education schools. This study, of a qualitative nature, with regard to the initial education of the future teachers who can play the role of pedagogical coordinators, privileged as a data collection instrument the semistructured questionnaire, applied to students of the undergraduate degree in Pedagogy of a private university in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the discussion about continuing education, data were collected from the students final works in two universities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that offered a Lato Sensu Postgraduate Course in Pedagogical Coordination, within the framework of a training policy articulated by the federal government. The results point to weaknesses in the initial training regarding issues related to the role to be played as teacher trainers in basic education schools and concerns of the coordinators already in place in these schools on issues about their daily work which often requires continuous training, working conditions and professional development.