Significado social e sentido pessoal da atividade docente do professor de inglês da escola pública

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the social meaning of the public school English teacher s work and the personal sense he/she attributes to his/her teaching activity. To achieve this objective we used as theoretical basis the sociohistorical approach and the Activity Theory which was developed by Leontiev (1978; 2004). In order to understand the social meaning that is associated to the English teacher s activity we surveyed authors who deal with relevant issues about language learning and teaching (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1993, 2003; MOITA LOPES, 1996, 2003, 2008; PAIVA, 2003, 2008; CELANI, 2005; LEFFA, 1999, 2003; PENNYCOOK, 2008, among others) and we also reviewed official documents for the Brazilian educational public politics (Parameters, Orientations and National Curricular Proposals for the teaching of Foreign Languages). The research methodology involved the application of a questionnaire to twenty-six English teachers of public schools from a countryside city of the state of São Paulo. With the help of this instrument, we gathered data that allowed us to outline the present profile of those teachers and to obtain information on several aspects involved in their daily work. We aim to answer the following questions: (1) Which social meanings are attributed to the activity of the public school English teacher? (2) Which personal sense the public school English teacher attributes to his/her work? and (3) Which relation can be established between the social meaning and the personal sense related to the teaching activity? By exploring the multiple variables involved in the public school English teacher s work and by verifying the meanings and senses associated to his/her teaching activity, this study may contribute to a better understanding of the conditions that involve that activity, by allowing the problematization of values and attitudes that guide and ground the teaching of English in the context of public schools.