Atividades experimentais no ensino de biologia em escolas públicas do estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil: caracterização geral e concepção de professores

Recent research has revealed that the majority of Biology teachers believe the practice of experimental activities as a didactical means would be the solution for the improvement of the Biology teaching-learning process. There are, however, studies which signal the lack of efficiency in such practice lessons as far as building scientific knowledge is concerned. It is also said that despite the enthusiasm on the teachers‟ part, such classes are rarely taught in high school. Several studies point pedagogical difficulties as well as nonexistence of a minimal infrastructure needed in laboratories as cause of low frequency in experimental activities. The poor teacher performance in terms of planning and development of classes; the large number of students per class; lack of financial stimulus for teachers are other reasons to be taken into account among others, in which can also be included difficulties of epistemological nature. That means an unfavorable eye of the teacher towards experimental activities. Our study aimed to clarify if such scenario is generalized in high schools throughout the state of Rio Grande do Norte Brazil. During our investigation a sample of twenty teaching institutions were used. They were divided in two groups: in the first group, five IFRN- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte schools. Two of those in Natal, and the other three from the country side. The second group is represented by fifteen state schools belonging to the Natal metropolitan area. The objectives of the research were to label schools concerning laboratory facilities; to identify difficulties pointed by teachers when performing experiment classes, and to become familiar with the conceptions of the teachers in regarding biology experiment classes. To perform such task, a questionnaire was used as instrument of data collecting. It contained multiple choice, essay questions and a semi-structured interview with the assistance of a voice recorder. The data analysis and the in loco observation allowed the conclusion that the federal schools do present better facilities for the practice of experimental activities when compared to state schools. Another aspect pointed is the fact that teachers of federal schools have more time available for planning the experiments; they are also better paid and are given access a career development, which leads to better salaries. All those advantages however, do not show a significantly higher frequency regarding the development of experiments when compared to state school teachers. Both teachers of federal and state schools pointed infra-structure problems such as the availability of reactants, equipments and consumption supplies as main obstacle to the practice of experiments in biology classes. Such fact leads us to conclude that maybe there are other problems not covered by the questionnaire such as poor ability to plan and execute experimental activities. As far as conceptions about experimental activities, it was verified in the majority of the interviewees a inductive-empiric point of view of science possibly inherited during their academic formation and such point of view reflected on the way they plan and execute experiments with students

Regulation, worker protection and active labour-market policies in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Etapas e volume de treinamento das ginastas Brasileiras participantes de Jogos Olímpicos (1980-2004)

Results from Brazilian female Artistic Gymnastics improved over the past 10 years at an international level of competition. This study aimed at describing career development process in sports through a qualitative research resorting to the Oral History method. Ten Brazilian gymnast players in Olympic Games from 1980 to 2004 participated in the study. The information they provided allowed for the identification of specific variables present in their long term preparation: structure and organization of their practice, duration of the preliminary preparation phases, volume of daily practice in different phases of training, and length of time for the achievement of better results. © FTCD/CIDESD.

Formação continuada em educação física escolar: concepções e perspectivas de professores

Pós-graduação em Ciências da Motricidade - IBRC

A valorização do profissional da educação e a carreira docente: a experiência do Governo de Frente Popular em Belém do Pará

O Estatuto do Magistério de Belém, que regulamenta a carreira e, portanto, a vida funcional dos profissionais da educação é o tema desta pesquisa, que tem como objetivo analisar as políticas implementadas para a carreira docente e suas implicações para o desenvolvimento do trabalho do docente, em Belém (estado do Pará), nos anos de 1997 a 2004. Esse período é considerado relevante, na pesquisa, porque a prefeitura de Belém esteve sob o comando de um governo que se autodenominou governo do povo, que, para as finalidades deste estudo, chamamos governo de frente popular. Este apresentou, entre outros, um programa que apontava para a valorização dos profissionais da educação, com ênfase nas garantias do Estatuto do Magistério, ao mesmo tempo em que sofreu pressões por parte desses profissionais pelo cumprimento de direitos contidos no referido Estatuto. Para analisar as políticas sobre a carreira docente emanadas desse tipo de governo, no período de referência, buscamos compreender, de um lado, o macro contexto de uma realidade de crise do sistema capitalista, a inserção do Brasil nessa realidade, e a realização de contra-reformas no Estado brasileiro orientadas para auxiliar na superação dessas crises. De outro, compreender a concepção e o papel de um governo de frente popular, as influências das citadas contra-reformas em suas políticas, a localização política e econômica de tal gestão, construindo, assim, o entendimento dos efeitos da dinâmica desses fatores sobre o trabalho docente, em Belém. Assim, os objetivos específicos que definimos para a investigação foram: 1) identificar as conseqüências da crise sistêmica do capital e do papel do Estado no processo de trabalho docente; 2) analisar as contra-reformas do Estado brasileiro, a partir de 1990, e os seus efeitos sobre o trabalho docente; 3) identificar algumas características do governo de Frente Popular, em Belém, e suas perspectivas programáticas para a valorização dos profissionais da educação; 4) avaliar as políticas emanadas por tal governo e os efeitos de sua implementação para a carreira docente, em Belém. Partimos da análise histórica do fenômeno estudado, fundamentando-nos nas elaborações de Antunes (1995; 1999; 2004), Brzezinski (2007), Chesnais (1996), Engels (1977),Enguita (1991), Lênin (1986; 1986a), Marx (1980), Maués (2003; 2005; 2006), Moreno (2003; 2003a), Oliveira (2003), entre outros. Valemo-nos, ainda, de documentos jurídicos e governamentais, bem como de publicações do movimento docente, como os da Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores da Educação (CNTE) e do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação Pública do Pará (SINTEPP), que nos permitiram compreender as categorias de análise carreira, remuneração, formação e condições físicas do trabalho no espaço educacional. Coletamos dados e informações documentais e empíricos, buscando algumas respostas que permitissem identificar, mesmo nas relações contraditórias apresentadas, as políticas que envolveram a carreira docente, o governo de frente popular e o movimento docente. Por isso, os sujeitos das entrevistas semiestruturadas foram selecionados em função de sua localização funcional e política. Funcional, no caso dos sete profissionais da educação e de um representante do governo que exercia função de coordenação, na Secretaria Municipal de Educação; e pela atuação política e sindical no movimento docente organizado no SINTEPP, em entrevista com dois de seus dirigentes. A partir do referencial bibliográfico e dos procedimentos metodológicos indicados, pudemos concluir que o cumprimento de direitos contidos no Estatuto do Magistério de Belém possibilitaria o desenvolvimento e a valorização da carreira docente, sobretudo quanto a salário e condições físicas de trabalho, ressaltando que o período analisado foi de efervescência sindical e política sobre as demandas dos profissionais da educação que buscaram assegurar seus direitos na realidade de um governo considerado progressista.

A experiência da saúde coletiva na formação profissional: retrato da extensão universitária

The guidelines of National Curriculum for Dental courses highlights the necessity in providing for the professional the ability to analyze and assess community’s problems and needs, and to create solutions for the society. The continuing education may be considered a useful tool for the teaching and learning because it favors the diversification of learning environments, which allows the insertion of undergraduate and graduate students into the real scenarios. This current study aimed to assess the Public Health projects and programs of the UNESP – Araçatuba Dental School, by describing the interaction experiences between faculty and health services in the professional career development. Historical, documentary and descriptive searches were performed based on the faculty archives such as official documents, reports, databases from the Pro-rector of continuing education and published papers in the period between 1964 and 2011. The following experiences were noted: the Extra-Muro Dental Service (SEMO), established in 1964, that focused in providing dental treatment to the rural population, highlighted the social inclusion of discriminated society groups since that time. In 1972, this service was expanded to several specific populations living in the urban areas. In the '60s, many educational campaigns were performed as homemade water filter and construction of wells and septic tanks which demonstrate the concern with the determinants of healthdisease process. At that time, the campaign of fluoridation of public water supplies in several counties started as Araçatuba, Birigui, Penápolis, Guararapes, Valparaíso and so on. The Campaign of “Good Teeth” from the '70s became wider over time and it was transformed in the "Oral Health Education Program" and it was continuously developed in all public schools of Araçatuba and some neighboring towns, benefiting children aged from 6 to 10 years-old. Several epidemiological studies of caries, periodontal diseases, malocclusion and fluorosis were conducted in cooperation with local governments, and counted with the participation of undergraduate and graduate students. Pereira Barreto – SP was the precursor city in Brazil to carry out fluorosis study. Currently, 12 projects of Public Health from the Institution of Higher Education in the Pro-rector of continuing education are being developed. The concern in qualifying the human resources in health is confirmed with the development of training courses and workshops for professionals, highlighting the training for people enrolled in the Family Health program; Community Health Agent training - Solidarity University, and Municipal Health Counselors training. The Graduate Program in Social and Preventive Dentistry, created in 1993, has an important role to train several professionals for the Unified Health System, and provides education to create researchers, professors and administrators, and enucleates research groups in several Brazilian states. In all activities showed herein, a dynamic participation of undergraduate and graduate students has been observed, and several books, guidelines, articles, brochures and booklets have been published as a result of the continuing education activities.. It was concluded that different projects and programs have been developed by the Public Health of UNESP –Araçatuba Dental School, which allow the exchange of experience between the university and health services, and benefit all participants enrolled in these activities.

I want to be my own person: the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of legacy students at Bucknell University

This study examined the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of five female legacy students at Bucknell University, each of whom having had at least one parent graduate from the institution. With a research philosophy, design, and methodology rooted in qualitative inquiry and phenomenology, inductive data analysis led to three primary categories that underscored legacy identity development. The first, Paradox of Influence and Identity, revealed through six themes nuanced experiences of separation-individuation. Second, Teaching and Learning, comprised of five themes, illuminated the impact of family — and of Bucknell parent alumni in particular — on their children’s internal working models. Lastly, Bucknell — the Environmental Contextand the five themes grouped therein highlighted the contributions of University community members, and of the campus culture and climate itself, to the co-construction of psychosocial formation. A tentative outline of grounded theory was offered, which explored categorical relationships; Paradox of Influence and Identity emerged as thedominant phenomenon, informing and being reinforced by the data of Teaching and Learning and Bucknell — the Environmental Context. Provisional intervention strategies for student affairs practice, in the contexts of academics, residential life, and career development, were discussed. Further, triangulated research is needed to substantiate and evolve the findings and theoretical model of this thesis.

Work Experiences and Well-Being in the First Years of Professional Work in Switzerland: A Ten-Year Follow-Up Study

The ÆQUAS (a German acronym for “Work Experiences and Quality of Life in Switzerland”) study followed young workers in five occupations over their first ten years in the labor market. Participants of the study reported on working conditions and well-being at five occasions. Overall, resources at work as well as well-being, health and personal resources remained stable or increased. Concurrently, task-related stressors increased as well. This result may reflect career progress (e.g., gaining more responsibilities may be accompanied by increasing time pressure) but development in task-related stressors as well as resources may also be related to specific occupations. Several trajectories had their turning point after the first or second year of being in the labor market, which may reflect a successful professional socialization. Even though a substantial number of participants did change their occupation over these ten years (with benefits for their well-being), development over the first ten years after vocational training implies a successful transition into labor market.

From school to work: A comprehensive model of work-related motivation in the transition to working life.

Motivation is a core concept to understand work related outcomes and vocational pursuits. However, existing research mostly focused on specific aspects of motivation, such as goals or self-efficacy beliefs, while falling short of adequately addressing more complex and integrative notions of motivation. Advancing the current state of research, we draw from Motivational Systems Theory and a model of proactive motivation to propose a comprehensive model of work-related motivation. Specifically, we define motivation as a system of mutually related factors consisting of goals, emotions, and personal agency beliefs, comprised by capability beliefs and context evaluations. Adapting this model of motivation to the school-to-work transition, we postulate that this motivational system is affected by different social, personal, and environmental variables, for example social support, the presence of role-models, personality traits, and scholastic achievement. We further expect that students with more autonomous work-related goals, expectations of more positive emotional experiences in their future working life, fewer perceived barriers to their career development, and higher work-related self-efficacy beliefs would be more successful in their transition from school to work. We also propose that goal-directed engagement acts as a partial mediator in the relationship between motivation and a successful transition. Finally, we hypothesize that work-related motivation while in school will have meaningful effects on positive outcomes while in vocational training, as represented by more work engagement, higher career commitment, job satisfaction, and lower intentions to quit training. In sum, we advance the point that the adaptation of a broader concept of work-related motivation in the school-to-work transition would result in more powerful predictions of success in this transition and would enhance scientific research and interventions in career development and counselling practice.

Callings and work engagement: Moderated mediation model of work meaningfulness, occupational identity, and occupational self-efficacy

Scholarly interest in callings is growing, but our understanding of how and when callings relate to career outcomes is incomplete. The present study investigated the possibility that the relationship of calling to work engagement is mediated by work meaningfulness, occupational identity, and occupational self-efficacy – and that this mediation depends on the degree of perceived person-job fit. I examined a highly educated sample of German employees (N=529) in diverse occupations and found support for two of the three hypothesized mediators – work meaningfulness and occupational identity – after controlling for the relation of core self-evaluations to work engagement. Contrary to expectations, the mediated relations of callings to work engagement were not conditional upon the degree of person-job fit. The findings are considered in terms of the pathways through which callings may relate to work engagement and other career development outcomes.

Relation of vocational identity statuses to interest structure among Swiss adolescents

Vocational identity is one core component of identity construction in adolescence. The current study investigated whether vocational interest structure in terms of differentiation, coherence, elevation, and interest-aspiration congruence would differentiate among students in vocational identity achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, and diffusion. Swiss students at the beginning of eighth grade (N = 341) participated in the study. Groups were created using cluster analysis based on the dimensions of career exploration and career commitment, and group differences were explored with discriminant analysis. Controlling for sociodemographic variables, higher interest differentiation and elevation distinguished students in achievement/moratorium from those in diffusion. More interest elevation differentiated moratorium from foreclosure. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Effects of orientations to happiness on vocational identity achievement

There is an increased interest in vocational psychology and career counseling regarding the link between career development and well-being, yet, little is known about how different ways to achieve well-being or happiness relate to career development. This study explored the relationship between 3 orientations to happiness (meaning, pleasure, and engagement) and vocational identity achievement among 2 groups of Swiss adolescents (n = 268, 8th grade; n = 208, 11th grade). The results indicated that more orientation to meaning and engagement but not to pleasure positively related to vocational identity achievement.

Individual predictors of adolescents' vocational interest stabilities

The study investigated the predictive utility of interest profile differentiation, coherence, elevation, congruence, and vocational identity commitment and career maturity (career planning and exploration) on the 10-month interest stability of 292 Swiss eighth-grade students: profile, rank, and level stabilities were assessed. Controlling for socio-demographic and vocational interest type variables, measures of differentiated and coherent vocational interests were significant predictors of profile stability. Interest elevation predicted more rank and level stability. The career development variables explained only a non-significant additional amount of variance in the different stability measures.

Perspectives on guidance and social inclusion in a global society

The world is changing rapidly. People today face numerous challenges in achieving a meaningful and fulfilling life. In many countries, there are enormous systemic barriers to address, such as: massive unemployment, HIV/AIDS, social disintegration, and inadequate infrastructure. One job for life is over. For many it never existed. Old metaphors and old models of career development no longer apply. New ways of thinking about careers are necessary, that take into account the context in which people are living, the reality of today's labour market, and the fact people's career-life journey contains many branching paths, barriers, and obstacles, but also allies and sources of assistance. Flexibility is important, as is keeping options open and making sure the journey is meaningful. Guidance professionals need to begin early, working with other professionals and those seeking assistance to develop attitudes that facilitate people taking charge of their own career-life paths. People need a vision for their life that will drive a purposeful approach to career-life planning and avoid floundering. Helping people achieve that direction can be most effectively accomplished when policy makers and practitioners work together to ensure that effective and accessible services are available for those who need them and when a large part of focus in on addressing the context in which marginalized people work and live.