Trabalho e formação docente na rede municipal de ensino de natal

The study Teacher work and education in the municipal schools of Natal objectifies the analysis of the education and work conditions of the teachers in the municipal schools of Natal, placing them within the scenario of the public policies outlined for Basic Education (2005-2010). The thesis is based on the perspective that the educational reforms implemented by the Brazilian government in an attempt to answer to the new contextual demands originated from the world of work and globalization, demanding increasingly higher levels of qualification and constant extension of the teaching functions in school from the teachers, have been configured withal as a strategy for intensifying the teacher s work. The empirical field of study was constituded by thirteen municipal schools that offer basic education. Four hundred and seventeen teacher subjects that work in the municipal school system of Natal, two representatives of the Secretaria Municipal de Educação de Natal (SME)1 that work in the pedagogical team and one representative of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação do Rio Grande do Norte2 took part in the study. The procedures/instruments used in the research were: bibliographic review, document research, questionnaires and recording of information in a field journal. The study confirmed that the majority of the teachers that work in the municipal school system were admitted by means of public entry exams, therefore meeting the requirements set by Law 9.394/96. Most of the teachers have the initial education demanded to work in basic education, although with some limitations due to the fact that they do not correspond to the needs of the educational system. The SME has a plan for continued training of the teachers in accordance to the current ideas defended by researchers of this field. There is, although, a disconnection between the purpose of the plan and the training strategies, because, in truth, predominate repetitive and specific actions that do not contemplate the training needs of the teachers, nor the demands of the system. Although the work conditions are evaluated, by the teachers, as relatively good, limits in relation to the physical structure of the schools are observed (dirty walls with holes in them, broken ceiling fans, old chairs and desks, old and stained black boards, inadequate restroom installations, poor maintenance of the computers, amongst other items). It was also verified the an increase in the functions of the teachers and an intensification of their work, materialized through an overburden of activities undertaken daily at school (and outside of it) and through the demand in taking part in activities that go beyond those inherent to the teaching process, such as the elaboration of political-pedagogical projects, participation in collegiate, registration of student information solicited by the SME and the participation in commissions, has been happening