Teacher training for vocational and technical high school education: contexts and contradictions

Abstract

Training teachers who work with vocational education, specifically with technical education on a high school level, has been a constant challenge for those who plan and execute the actions of this modality of education. In this context, this article aims to discuss the constitution process for the professional education of teachers who work with vocational and technical high school education in Brazil, analyzing how this process was conceived and structured to meet the needs of an education proposal which has been historically relegated as secondary and/or complementary. Initially, we carry out a historical analysis of vocational education, revealing the duality that grounds vocational education and propaedeutic education in teacher training courses. To achieve the proposed objective, the study used a qualitative approach due to understanding that it enables greater approximation between the participating subjects. Within this methodological approach, we used the methods of documentary analysis, focal group technique, and interview with five teachers from a State School of Vocational Education in the city of Fortaleza. The results of the research revealed the teachers’ lack of training when they started teaching in this modality of education, and the difficulties faced by the investigated subjects span several dimensions, from pedagogical to structural issues. In view of the reality presented, we reassert the urgency of defining a policy of continuing education for teachers in vocational education in Brazil, particularly for teachers who work with high school technical courses