Brazil teachers learn new techniques by themselves

Most look for innovation in online videos and tutorials

Published on 17/07/2019 - 18:53 By Mariana Tokarnia - Brasília

A survey by TIC Educação, with Brazil’s Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), published this week, reveals that 92 percent of public school teachers and 86 percent of private school teachers seek on their own to get informed about new teaching resources and technological innovation.

Among the main resources named are online videos and tutorials. The percentage of teachers who say they learn from these went from 59 percent in 2015 to 75 percent in 2018—similar percentages among both public and private school teachers.

At the other end, 26 percent of public school teachers and 15 percent of private school teachers say they are trained by education secretariats. Also, while 60 percent of teachers at private schools say they receive information about technology from pedagogical coordinators, this proportion is down to 35 percent among public school teachers.

“What these figures reveal is that they are interested in the use of technology in teaching and learning; they have resorted to courses and online videos and tutorials, but formal training from the schools still needs some enhancement,” TIC Educação Coordinator Daniela Costa argued.

Teacher training

Figures show the gap can be seen to start early in teachers’ academic life, in college. A little more than half of them, 54 percent of the teachers aged up to 30, said they attended a university course on the use of technology in learning. This number drops among older teachers. Of 31–45-year-old teachers, 48 percent had a specific class about the topic, compered to 34 percent among those aged 46 and older.

After receiving a university degree, continued education was also lacking, with a mere 30 percent of teachers from private schools and 21 percent of public school teachers having taken part in some course on the use of technology for teachers last year.

“Teacher training is a key aspect for the use of technology in teaching and learning, as teachers are mediators in the responsible, critical use of technology. Connectivity depends on teachers being trained for the use of these resources and to make the most of such devices,” Costa argued.

Research

The 9th issue of the TIC Educação survey was conducted countrywide with 11,142 students from fifth and ninth grade and from the second year of high school. A total of 1,807 teachers, 906 pedagogical coordinators and 979 directors also took part in the research. All schools surveyed are located in urban areas. The sample also includes 1,433 directors or authorities from rural schools. Interviews were carried out and questionnaires given from August to December 2018.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Valéria Aguiar / Nira Foster

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