This study was designed to discover which merit pay evaluation and implementation factors were considered important by members of the Florida Teaching Profession - National Education Association (FTP-NEA). Comparisons were made of opinions within various subgroups (district size, position within organization, sex, race, age, years teaching, highest degree earned, assignment, secondary assignment). The sample included the State Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of the United Faculty of Florida CUFF-university personnel), and FTP-NEA members in two-thirds of the local affiliates. All districts with support personnel groups were included. The questionnaire was comprised of merit pay factors which were cited most often in the literature, and factors being considered for Florida's State Master Teacher Program. The instrument included 15 evaluation and 25 implementation factors. Questionnaires were distributed by local affiliate presidents. The UFF board and state FTP-NEA board members were surveyed by mail. The results of 662 surveys were analyzed, using a Chi-square test for each factor for each subgroup within the sample. Respondents felt most strongly that "teaching experience/number of years teaching" and "administrator observations/evaluations" should be used as evaluation criteria in a merit pay plan. They were most opposed to "standardized teacher test scores" and "standardized student test scores," both "by school" and "by teacher." They agreed strongly with several of the implementation factors, including "each teacher should ahve access to his/her own records" and "an evaluation instrument should stress performance on the job in the assigned area." They were strongly against the use of a quota, extra pay for tecahers in shortage or alternative areas, and the involvement of business persons and legislators in planning a merit pay system. There were several Chi-square tests which produced valid, significant differences among various subgroups. Significant differences were evidenct in 26 cases for evaluation factors, and 14 cases for implementation factors. The largest numbers of significantly different opinions were in the categories of "sex" (10 factors) and "assignment" (8 factors). There were no significant differences among respondents with various seconday assignments and one significant difference between black and white responses.

La professionnalisation de l’enseignement a connu un essor important depuis la fin des années 1980, et ce dans plusieurs contextes sociaux. Depuis cette époque, la recherche sur le savoir des enseignants s’est développée dans le but de définir la nature des connaissances devant être à la base de l’enseignement, ce qui, en même temps, a changé les modèles de formation à l’enseignement. Les provinces canadiennes se sont vues insérées dans ce mouvement de professionnalisation de l’enseignement qui a induit des réformes et des changements dans les programmes de formation des enseignants. Cette recherche doctorale porte sur la professionnalisation, les savoirs et les programmes de formation des enseignants dans deux provinces canadiennes, le Québec et l’Ontario. Son objectif général était de cerner, dans une perspective comparative, comment les politiques de professionnalisation de la formation à l’enseignement développées par ces deux provinces ont été interprétées ces dernières décennies dans les programmes de formation au sein des universités. Pour ce faire, nous avons analysé, plus spécifiquement, trois enjeux qui touchent les savoirs des enseignants : les conceptions professionnelles et les savoirs dans la formation à l’enseignement; les standards et les référentiels de compétences encadrant cette formation; et les savoirs qui se trouvent dans les programmes de formation à l’enseignement primaire dans ces deux provinces. De ce fait, nous avons cherché à répondre à la question générale de recherche suivante : Comment les politiques de professionnalisation de la formation à l’enseignement développées par le Québec et l’Ontario ont-elles été traduites dans les programmes de formation universitaire? Et aux questions spécifiques suivantes : 1. Quelles sont les conceptions dominantes de la professionnalisation qui se dégagent des politiques éducatives ontariennes et québécoises? (1.1. Quelle est l’évolution des politiques éducatives qui encadrent la formation et la certification des enseignants dans ces deux provinces? 1.2. Comment évoluent les savoirs à la base de la formation des enseignants? Quels référentiels de compétences ou standards ont été proposés? 1.3. Quelle est la vision officielle actuelle du professionnel à former?) 2. Que deviennent les conceptions de la professionnalisation une fois traduites en programmes de formation dans les universités québécoises et ontariennes? (2.1. Comment sont conçus les savoirs professionnels dans les programmes de formation? 2.2. Est-ce qu’il y a des modalités d’articulation des cours théoriques et pratiques? Quelle est la place des stages? La place de la recherche? 2.3. Y a-t-il des différences entre ce que les enseignants sont censés apprendre selon le contexte ou, au contraire, une base de connaissances uniformisée est-elle visible entre ces deux contextes différents? Où se situent les différences?). Cette recherche pose ainsi la question du savoir formel à la lumière de la sociologie des professions, plus particulièrement à travers l’approche néo-wébérienne. Cette approche se situe à l’interieur de l’approche « critique » en sociologie des professions et s’inspire de Weber pour analyser la professionnalisation selon les enjeux économiques, politiques, historiques et académiques qui permettent à un groupe de métier de se voir octroyer une « fermeture sociale » et de réussir à se « professionnaliser ». En nous basant sur ce cadre théorique, et à travers une analyse de 70 documents politiques et de recherche, ainsi qu’une comparaison de programmes de formation dans 25 universités (12 au Québec et 13 en Ontario) et 1030 descriptifs de cours, nous avons établi des différences entre les deux provinces dans l’évolution de la conception du savoir enseignant et son influence sur les modèles de formation qui en ont découlé. Par exemple, nous avons démontré comment les conceptions des années 1950-1960 de la science pédagogique au Québec et de l’éducation libérale en Ontario ont conduit à des modèles de professionnalisation différents dans ces deux provinces. Au Québec, l’importance des compétences psychopédagogiques a amené un modèle de formation des enseignants plus « professionnalisé », tandis qu’en Ontario on a gardé un modèle combiné « académique » et « professionnel ». Nous avons également analysé et comparé le rôle de l’État dans la professionnalisation de l’enseignement, de même que son rôle actuel d’encadrement de la formation, ce qui nous a permis de constater qu’il y a une gouvernance politique au Québec et une gouvernance corporative en Ontario. Enfin, grâce à l’approche néo-wébérienne, cette recherche a permis d’établir une contribution nouvelle, sociologique et comparative, à l’évaluation critique de la formation des enseignants au Québec et en Ontario, notamment en mettant en relation l’évolution historique et sociologique du savoir; le rôle de l’État et les standards de formation et de certification des enseignants; ainsi que les modèles de formation et le savoir formel provenant de la formation et de la recherche universitaire. / The professionalization of teaching and teacher education has been a significant movement since the late 1980s in many social contexts. Since then, research on teachers' knowledge developed with the main objective of defining the nature of the knowledge base of teaching, which, at the same time, changed teacher education models. Canadian provinces were not spared by this movement, which induced reforms and changes in teacher education programs. This doctoral research focuses on the professionalization of teaching and teacher education, and on teachers’ knowledge base, in two Canadian provinces: Quebec and Ontario. Our general objective was to identify, in a comparative perspective, how universities in these two provinces translated the policies of professionalization of teaching and teacher education, as well as the evolution of teachers’ knowledge, into teacher education programs during recent decades. To this end, we analyzed, more specifically, three issues relating to teachers’ knowledge: the conceptions of teaching as a profession and the knowledge base for teaching that should respectively guide and be included in teacher education programs in each of the provinces; the standards and skills that frame these programs; and the knowledge base that is actually present in teacher education programs (primary/junior). Thereby, we set out to answer the following research questions: How have the policies for the professionalization of teacher education developed by Quebec and Ontario been translated into university training programs? More specifically: 1. What are the dominant conceptions of professionalization emerging from Ontario and Quebec educational policies? (1.1. What has been the evolution of the educational policies governing teacher education and certification in these two provinces? 1.2. How has the knowledge base of teacher education evolved, and what competency frameworks or standards have been proposed? 1.3. What is the current official vision of the professional teacher to be trained) 2. What happens to the conceptions of professionalization when translated into teacher education programs in universities in Quebec and Ontario? (2.1. How is the professional knowledge base conceived in teacher education programs? 2.2. Are there ways of articulating theoretical and practical courses? What is the place of the practicum and research in the programs? 2.3. Are there any differences in what teachers are expected to learn depending on the context or, on the contrary, is a standardized knowledge base visible in these two different contexts? Where can we find these differences?). This research thus raises the question about the teachers’ formal knowledge in the light of the sociology of professions, particularly through the neo-Weberian approach. This approach is situated within the “critical” approach in the field of the sociology of professions and is inspired by Weber to analyze professionalization according to the economic, political, historical and academic stakes that allow a group of workers to be awarded a “social closure” and to succeed in their “professionalization” process. Based on this theoretical framework, and through the analysis of 70 political and research documents, and a comparison of teacher education programs in 25 universities (12 in Quebec and 13 in Ontario) and 1030 courses descriptions, we identified a number of differences between these two provinces in the evolution of the official conception of the teachers’ knowledge base and its influence on the teacher education models that ensued. For example, we demonstrated how the conceptions of teachers’ knowledge in the 1950s and the 1960s (pedagogy as science in Quebec, and liberal education in Ontario), have influenced current models of professionalization in the two provinces. In Quebec, the importance of psycho-pedagogical skills led to a more “professionalized” teacher education model, while Ontario maintained a combined “academic” and “professional” model . We also analyzed and compared the role of the State in the professionalization of teaching as well as its current role of supervision of teacher education. This led to the finding that the governance of teacher education and the teaching profession is political in Quebec and corporatist in Ontario. Overall, the neo-Weberian approach enabled us to make a new contribution, sociological and comparative, to the critical examination of teacher education in Quebec and Ontario, in particular by linking the historical evolution of teachers’ knowledge, the role of the State, the teacher education models, and the current formal knowledge base for teaching that comes from university research and programs.

La réflexion sur l’intégration au travail des nouvelles enseignantes touche de plus en plus la communauté des chercheurs en éducation. Avec la valorisation de la pratique réflexive, l’enseignante se voit plus que par le passé autorisé à exercer une grande liberté d’action dans son travail, ainsi qu’une grande autonomie en ce qui à trait à l’exécution de sa tâche. Cette liberté peut être lourde à porter, surtout lorsqu’on entre dans le métier. Aussi, pour soutenir cette liberté et la diriger, la référence aux valeurs demeure fondamentale. Dans le présent mémoire, nous tentons d’en savoir plus sur les valeurs qui animent ces nouvelles venues, et comment celles-ci les aident à vivre leur intégration et à concevoir leur place dans le métier. La cueillette des données effectuée à partir de leurs réflexions, souvent profondes, sur les valeurs personnelles, les valeurs au travail et le rapport au métier, permet une analyse du discours basée sur le ressenti et l’expérience. C’est en puisant dans les thèses de la modernité et de la postmodernité, toutes deux parlantes quant à l’époque actuelle, que nous tentons de mieux cerner et induire les valeurs propres aux enseignantes ayant participé à notre étude phénoménologique de type exploratoire. Grâce à l’analyse de contenu, nous sommes à même de constater que malgré une ligne de partage présente entre certaines valeurs dites modernes et postmodernes, il n’en demeure pas moins qu’une tendance se dessine : nos nouvelles enseignantes désirent être fidèles d’abord et avant tout à elles-mêmes, même si cela implique l’abandon du métier qu’elles envisagent toutes comme une possibilité, sans exception. Cela en dit long sur leurs priorités et leurs valeurs au travail. Il est clair qu’elles travaillent de manière à se sentir authentiques, toujours avec le souci de savoir s’adapter aux nouvelles situations. Cependant, même si certaines d’entre elles trouvent plus ardu de s’adapter à une demande en matière de flexibilité professionnelle à la hausse, il n’en demeure pas moins que la flexibilité au travail est un élément désormais bien intégré à l’habitus professionnel des enseignantes pratiquant depuis dix ans et moins. Si postmodernes que ça nos nouvelles enseignantes? Oui. / The integration of new teachers in their working environment is more and more the focus of interest in the education research community. With the upcoming of reflexive practice methods, there is a large space for autonomy in nowadays teaching environments, which can be heavy to handle especially at the beginning of professional practice. Facing this freedom implies a reference to certain values in order to handle well educational tasks. This master focuses on those values which are inspiring young teachers and help them deal with the beginning of their profession. Furthermore this work provides an analysis, based on deep reflections of new teachers, which gives an intuitive sense of their values and relations concerning their workplace. The interpretation of our data is done through the perspectives of modernity and postmodernity, which presently seem to have an important impact on young educators professional values. The analysis of the survey underlying this work shows, in spite of the presence of common modern and postmodern values, a significant interesting tendency. The interrogated teachers seem to be foremost true to themselves, even if it leads to the abandonment of their profession, a fact which seems to be a reflection of the balance between their professional priorities and their personal values. It is obvious that these young teaching professionals aspire to work in the most possible authentic way. Even if some of them deal with difficulties in facing work flexibility and adaptation, the analysis confirms that these values are well integrated in their professional habitus.

The thesis is dealing with the problematics of burnout syndrome and engagement in teaching profession in different types of schools and grades. Its objective is to detect the degree of burnout in a selected sample of teachers and map the main determinants of contentment related to engaged teachers. The theoretical part defines the concept of burnout syndrome, its development, progress, signs, causes and diagnostics. It clarifies the development of burnout in teaching profession. Furthermore, it describes the key characteristics of engagement, the diagnostic methods and the relationship between teaching and engagement. The empiric part has two goals: to find out the degree of burnout in teachers and depict the essential factors which contribute to their engagement. The research was based on questionnaires and interviews and answered the research questions. The results are presented in tables and graphs. In conclusion, there are some suggestions how to lower the risk of genesis and growth of burnout syndrome. KEY WORDS Burnout syndrome, work load, stress, emotional exhaustion, fatigue, teaching profession, engagement, flow, well-being.

The thesis "Beginning teacher from the point of view of dealing with professional qualities" reacts to the actual theme of seeking professional competencies of teachers and of suitable evaluation methods. It focuses on the work of beginning teachers and their professional quality and on further incentives for their professional growth. At the same time identifies what helps novice teachers during the first years of teaching activities. In the theoretical part knowledge and opinions of specialists are summarized and organized into three chapters. The experts were selected according to themes: teacher quality, professional competence, teaching profession, training of teachers and their support in practice. The practical part presents qualitative research which through the research methods (questionnaire, interview, data analysis, case study) describes the reality of beginning teachers work in primary school. The research try to answer the question: How teachers in the early years of practice manage its activities to evaluate their professional quality, what are dealing with and what helps them to be a good teacher. The most challenging task for beginning teachers is the timing of educational activities and managing with everyday practical and administrative activities. They are sure in the areas of...

Title of the thesis: Problems of the teaching profession: teacher in France and in the Czech Republic Keywords: Teacher, teaching profession, status of the teacher, education system of the Czech Republic, education system of France Abstract: The dissertation occupies by the problems of the teaching profession. Despite big psychological and physical difficulty the profession is underestimated, prestige and salaries of teachers are low. One of the goals of the thesis is to show that the teaching profession isn't that easy as the public believes and to present its principal problems. The dissertation touches themes like prestige and authority of the teacher, teachers' health and stress at school or trainee teachers' problems. Theme of the teaching profession generally is completed by actual numbers and data reflecting status of the teacher and education system in the Czech Republic, in France and in other European countries. So another goal of the thesis is to compare these numbers and to find advantages and disadvantages of systems which influence status of the teacher and to outline possible ways to their improvement. We occupy for example by the present problems of European systems, financing of education, teachers' salaries or status of the teacher in the Czech Republic and in France. The...

L’objet de notre recherche est d’étudier la dynamique subjective du parcours universitaire des enseignants en vue de la construction d’une identité professionnelle et de leur préparation à l’enseignement. Nous analysons les expériences, les représentations et les méthodes de travail des futurs professeurs de l’enseignement secondaire en milieu universitaire ainsi que la transition de l’expérience universitaire à la formation. Notre enquête porte sur un échantillon de 170étudiants (et professeurs stagiaires) préparant les concours de recrutement (CAPES, CAPEPS, Agrégation), futurs enseignants du second degré dans trois disciplines : Lettres, EPS et Sciences physiques. Nous avons utilisé pour le recueil des données un questionnaire qui nous a permis de collecter les données nécessaires (données quantitatives)puis nous avons conduit 35 entretiens complémentaires afin de collecter des données qualitatives. Nous dégageons ainsi sur la base des résultats obtenus les particularités de leurs représentations par rapport à leur discipline d’appartenance.Nous nous intéressons plus spécifiquement aux méthodes de travail des futurs enseignants selon certains concepts pédagogiques (l’efficacité des enseignants, l’évaluation des élèves, le comportement en classe et dans différents contextes, la préparation des cours, les connaissances relatives aux disciplines, les compétences pédagogiques). Il es tégalement intéressant d’examiner la question du choix du métier des enseignants candidats ainsi que d’étudier la position culturelle des nouveaux enseignants entre la culture académique-scolaire et la culture des jeunes. En outre,nous envisageons les modalités actuelles de la professionnalisation et des nouvelles contraintes du métier ainsi que les stratégies possibles en vue de la construction d’une culture professionnelle commune des enseignants du secondaire / The aim of our research is to study the subjective dynamics of teachers during their course of university study in an effort to build a professional identity and prepare themselves for teaching. We analyse the university experiences, the representations and the work methods of future secondary school teachers, as well as their transition from the university experience to professional training. Our research is carried out on a sample consisting of 170 students (and trainee teachers) who are preparing for the examinations for appointment (CAPES, CAPEPS, Agregation). It concerns future teachers in three disciplines: Literature, Physical Education and Natural Sciences. In order to collect data, we used a questionnaire that allowed us to collect quantitative data and we also conducted 35 interviews that allowed us to collect qualitative data. Consequently, from the results, we are able to identify the special particularities of the prospective teachers’ representations according to their specialty. We are particularly interested in the work methods of these prospective teachers in accordance with specific pedagogical conceptions (teacher effectiveness, student assessment, behaviour in the classroom and in different environments, lesson preparation, knowledge of subject matter, pedagogical ability). It is worth considering the question of choice of the teaching profession, as well as studying the cultural attitude of new teachers between academic culture and youth culture. Finally, we are interested in the contemporary dimensions of professionalisation, as well as in the new constraints placed on the teaching profession, and also in possible strategies for the creation of a common professional culture among secondary school teachers

Title: Transforming teacher education of chemistry in the Czech Republic Abstract: The title of the dissertation is 'Transforming teacher education of chemistry in the Czech Republic'. The work describes and analyzes the current system of the pregraduate prospective teachers' training of chemistry at universities and faculties of science focused on teaching science as well the subsequent in-service education of chemistry teachers in this country. The work also takes into account the post-war development of education in the republic from 1945 until present and the list of all the universities and faculties that educate chemistry teachers. The most important section of this work identifies and analyzes the current state of training and further education of chemistry teachers and the design of chemistry teachers educational conception in the Czech Republic. Key words: teaching profession, undergraduate pre-service teacher training, continuing in-service teacher training/education, educational institutions, curriculum reform, lifelong educatio

Este é um estudo sobre como professoras dos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental se desenvolvem profissionalmente e produzem sua profissão. Buscamos compreender de que forma o desenvolvimento profissional de professoras é influenciado pela experiência e pelas vivências de cada uma delas na trajetória da carreira. Para compreendermos esse desenvolvimento, adotamos como referência a Rede Municipal de Ensino de São Paulo porque essa apresenta elementos importantes para nosso estudo como, por exemplo, a existência de um estatuto que legitima a profissão docente e que proporciona para os professores oportunidades de desenvolvimento profissional dentro da sua jornada de trabalho. Para responder aos objetivos propostos pela pesquisa, convidamos três professoras da Rede Municipal de Ensino com diferentes anos de experiência docente e que estavam atuando nos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental em 2006. Na tentativa de captar o relato das experiências vividas pelas professoras buscou-se o apoio da História Oral porque esta permite apreender a experiência vivida por determinados indivíduos (três professoras) num contexto macro social (profissão docente). Buscamos também os estudos sobre a carreira do professor, de modo a refletir sobre o seu percurso profissional e compreender como ocorre o processo de desenvolvimento profissional. Os estudos sobre a profissão docente tiveram como base as contribuições do português António Nóvoa (1986, 1991, 1995a, 1995b, 1998, 1999 e 2000) e das brasileiras Tanuri (1969 e 1979), Dias (2002), Marcílio (2005) e Castro (2005). Sobre o conceito de desenvolvimento profissional, buscamos apoio em Nóvoa (1995a e 2000), Marcelo Garcia (1994), Almeida (1999a, 1999b, 2004a, e 2004b), Souza (2005) e Day (1999). A hipótese orientadora desse estudo consistiu em considerar que o percurso do desenvolvimento profissional, que aparece no relato das professoras, ajuda a compreender os modos de ser professor na escola pública contemporânea. Elaboramos três categorias que nos orientaram no momento da análise dos dados: relação com o conhecimento, formação contínua e autonomia. Ao final da pesquisa, chegamos ao entendimento de que ao longo dos anos da carreira o professor vai se desenvolvendo profissionalmente, vai refletindo sobre seu modo de ser e de estar na profissão e vai criando e modificando sua ação pedagógica. / This is a study about how teachers of the initial years of the Basic Education are developing themselves professionally and how they are producing their profession. We search to understand how professional development of teachers is influenced by the experiences of each one of them during the career\'s trajectory. In order to understand this development, we adopt as reference the São Paulo\'s Municipal Education Net because it presents important elements four our study as, for example, the existence of a statute that legitimizes the teaching profession and that provides for the teachers opportunities of professional development inside their days\' work. To answer to the objectives considered for the research, we invite three teachers of the Municipal Education Net with different years of experience. These teachers were teaching to the initial years of Basic Education in 2006. In the attempt to catch the story of the experiences lived by the teachers, we search the Oral History\'s support because this allows us to apprehend the person\'s lived experience (three teachers) inside the social context (teaching profession). We also search teacher\'s career studies in order to reflect about its professional trajectory and to understand how the process of professional development occurs. The teaching profession\'s studies have been supported by the contributions of Portuguese António Nóvoa (1986, 1991, 1995a, 1995b, 1998, 1999 e 2000) and by the contributions of Brazilians Tanuri (1969 e 1979), Dias (2002), Marcílio (2005) and Castro (2005). The professional development\'s concept has been supported by the contributions of Nóvoa (1995a and 2000), Marcelo Garcia (1994), Almeida (1999a, 1999b, 2004a and 2004b), Souza (2005) and Day (1999). The hypothesis that guides this study consists of considering the professional development, that is in the teachers\' stories, as a help to understand the ways of being teacher in the contemporary public school. We elaborate three categories that have guided us during the data\'s analysis: relation with the knowledge, continuous formation and autonomy. To the end of the research, we reach the agreement that along the career\'s years the teacher have been developing itself professionally, have been reflecting about its ways of being in the profession and have been creating and modifying its pedagogic action.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Itale Luciane Cericato.pdf: 1930974 bytes, checksum: 83c2dd2181f7aafa769c98c5d99f5905 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study aims to understand the senses and meanings attributed by teachers to their professional activity throughout their teaching experience. To this end, we interviewed three high school teachers working in the public educational system of São Paulo, each of them being in a different career time. The data were analyzed in the light of the postulates of the social-historical psychology, focusing on two central categories: meaning and significance. The findings indicated that the meanings attributed by each of the three teachers to their teaching activities are unique and singular, although sharing some common features. Among these representations, some are worth mentioning: a) the fact that teaching is defined by common sense ideas, which reproduce and, consequently, perpetuated a same discourse through generations of teachers. As a result, the necessarily knowledge constructed by the specialized literature about the teaching, and the teaching profession, is absolutely not considered; b) students are seen as unmotivated for learning; c) experience is perceived as more valuable for teaching than teaching formation or continuing education. All teachers pointed out that it is impossible to promote learning in all students, exposing, consequently, a lacks of political commitment with the role of Education. Furthermore, all teachers reported an absence of collaborative work within the school, confirming that the teaching activities are conducted primarily in isolation. Differently, the changes introduced in the recently implemented educational policies of São Paulo - such as the use of text books elaborated by the state or receiving credit for the school s results in students performance evaluation - are seen by each teacher in a particular way. The meanings attributed to the teaching activity itself are various: it is defined as the ability to transmit knowledge to a person devoid of it, or as the fulfillment of a goal that someone had always pursued, or yet as a daily and unfair struggle, given the stress involved in teaching. Based on these findings, the conclusion is that the teaching profession needs to be changed in several aspects, namely: the initial training, as it is currently defined, is not sufficient to provide future guidance in the profession, so that the offer of continuing education in a systematic way and within the schools themselves is imperative. Finally, it is extremely necessary to replace the culture of isolation by a collaborative one, allowing teachers to learn with their peers in exchanging their successful and painful experiences / Este estudo objetiva compreender os sentidos atribuídos por professores à sua atividade profissional. Foram entrevistadas três professoras do ensino médio da rede pública paulista, com diferentes tempos de carreira. Os dados foram analisados com base no referencial teórico da Psicologia Sócio-histórica, com foco nas categorias sentido e significado. As conclusões apontam para o fato de que os sentidos atribuídos pelas professoras às suas atuações são únicos e singulares, embora partilhem muitos aspectos comuns. Dentre estes últimos, percebemos que a docência é definida mais por critérios do senso comum e pela reprodução de discursos perpetuados ao longo de gerações do que, como seria esperado, pelos conhecimentos produzidos pela literatura especializada. Além disso, verificamos que os alunos são considerados desmotivados para a aprendizagem, e os conhecimentos produzidos em função da prática cotidiana são mais valorizados do que a formação continuada. É unânime a constatação de não ser possível ensinar a todos os alunos, inferindo-se dessa proposição uma postura de acomodação. Comum a todas as professoras também é a ausência de um trabalho colaborativo no interior da escola, confirmando que a atividade docente é realizada prioritariamente de maneira isolada. Mudanças recentes nas políticas educacionais paulistas como o uso dos cadernos de disciplina, a bonificação por desempenho e a avaliação dos índices de rendimento da escola são vistas de modo diferente pelas professoras. Diferentes também são os sentidos atribuídos à própria atividade: a docência ora é definida como possibilidade de transmitir um saber a uma pessoa dele desprovida; ora é apresentada como a realização de algo que sempre se quis fazer; ora é considerada uma luta cotidiana e desleal, dado o desgaste envolvido no ensinar. Com base nesses achados, afirmamos que a docência precisa mudar em dois aspectos fundamentais: a formação inicial que, em seus moldes atuais, não é suficiente para fornecer diretrizes aos futuros professores e a formação continuada que é mais bem realizada quando ocorre de maneira sistemática e no interior das próprias escolas. Concluímos que é urgente substituir a cultura do isolamento docente por uma cultura do trabalho colaborativo, que permita aos professores a troca de experiências bem-sucedidas sobre suas atuações