Formação continuada de alfabetizadores na rede pública de ensino de São Luís (Maranhão): desenvolvimento profissional docente e práticas pedagógicas

Abstract

The thesis Continuing Education of Literacy Teachers in the Public School System of São Luís (Maranhão): Teacher Professional Development and Pedagogical Practices, submitted to the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), examines the continuing education of early literacy teachers working in the municipal public school system of São Luís. The general objective was to analyze the phenomenon of continuing education for early literacy teachers, based on the experiences of those who participated in such initiatives between 2019 and 2023, and to understand its implications for professional development and literacy pedagogical practices, considering the historical and material contradictions inherent to the educational process. The study is grounded in Historical-Dialectical Materialism (HDM), adopting the analytical categories of totality, movement, contradiction, and historicity, supported by the works of Marx and Engels and by authors such as Saviani. Methodologically, HDM is articulated with Dialogic Discourse Analysis (DDA), a perspective that, while recognizing the historical materiality of education, assigns centrality to listening, to the word, and to the meanings produced by subjects. The research was conducted in municipal public schools in São Luís with early literacy teachers, using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and analysis of official documents as data-generation procedures. The analysis, mediated by the dialogue between HDM and DDA, showed that continuing education has created spaces for exchange and sharing of experiences among teachers, yet remains marked by a technical and fragmented logic. The historical and material contradictions of the process reveal that such educational initiatives cannot be understood as mere program implementation; rather, they must be examined in their social totality, within a context of ideological disputes, teacher labor precarity, and movements of resistance. The study concludes that continuing education, in order to fulfill its historical role, must be constituted as an emancipatory practice, grounded in public policies that ensure objective working conditions, time for study and planning, professional recognition, and a solid theoretical foundation, reaffirming education as a political act and a conscious intervention in social reality. The contributions of this research are significant in that they highlight the complexity of literacy education and the challenges imposed by recent educational policies, offering theoretical methodological support for the strengthening of critical and historically situated literacy practices.