ASPECTS OF TEACHERS'S VALORIZATION IN NARRATIVES OF PROFESSIONALS OF THE FIRST YEARS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

Teachers’ valorization has been increasingly highlighted by professionals and researchers of the educational area as one of the most important features that enable the construction of a more democratic society and enhance the quality of education. Based on this assumption, we present the outcomes of master’s research aimed to investigate the teachers’ valorization through the narratives of the professionals who teach the first levels of Brazilian elementary school within the municipal sector in Mariana, a town of Minas Gerais State, in conjunction with the theoretical references on the theme. We have concluded that the concept underlying the teachers’ valorization is polyssemic and entails not only objective aspects such as formation, salary, working conditions and career plan but also subjective aspects, namely social recognition and professional achievement. Moreover, both aspects are embedded in the teachers’ lives. The narratives of the teachers studied have revealed other aspects related to the working conditions which go beyond the goals accomplished by the municipality, such as the increase of the salary due to policies envolving the career plan. Similarly, we have dealt with little explored issues, such as the relationship between the teacher and the student, the family and the school and between the peers, all of these experienced throughout the develoment of the profession. In doing so, we show the importance of these interactions by the teachers and demonstrate the human dimension in the teaching task and its relationship with the teachers’ valorization process.