Continuous training of early childhood teachers in a pandemic context: freirian reflections

Abstract

With the Covid-19 pandemic, teacher education has raised broad discussion in academia, as student learning takes on new contours in the face of the remote teaching alternative, which can have a substantial impact on the personal and professional dimensions of the subject in formation. Given this context, this article aims to analyze, in the light of Freire's conceptions, the implications of the pandemic context for a group of postgraduate students of the Specialization in Early Childhood Education, at a public university in Bahia. To do so, we adopted a qualitative approach, with 26 participants. In the production of data, we used a questionnaire with 17 questions, being 05 closed and 12 open. The data reveal that although graduate students have pointed out some negative aspects of the pandemic, such as increased spending on technological resources and the internet, a feeling of impotence, insecurity, fear, and exhaustion; on the other hand, they saw opportunities to develop creativity, overcome challenges, study close to the family, learn and develop new skills. We conclude that the current pandemic scenario in Brazil requires immediate public educational policies to support teachers and students, as well as offering initial or continuing teacher training that address the learning needs of the teaching profession in situations of uncertainty and social change, political, economic, emotional, among others.