The relations between research in Science teaching and teacher education: representations

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of investigating representations of researchers from the area of the teaching of Physics about the possible influence of the research in the area of Science teaching upon the way in which teachers are educated in Brazil. For that, an analysis was made of the answers to a question formulated in interviews made with 13 researchers from the field of the teaching of Physics, which were indicated by their peers through an electronic mail sent to researchers in Science teaching, including the subareas of Biology, Physics, Geosciences and Chemistry. The discourse analysis developed in France by Michel Pêcheux, based on elements obtained mainly from publications by Eni Orlandi in Brazil, gave the theoretical support to the study. The representations that the selected discourses allowed to infer suggest that the above-mentioned influence is small. However, factors of great import were mentioned, including factors internal to the area, as well as factors associated to public policies. A wide diversity of positions among the researchers interviewed could also be observed. On the whole, the factors mentioned by the interviewees constitute a wide configuration scenario of representations that can be an element for reflection to other researchers. We believe that these representations have the potential to contribute to the appearance of effective influences in the form of the development of public policies, without the need for prescriptions and with fewer and fewer empty recommendations.