Teacher education in Geography: possible pathways between university and school in the Baixo Jaguaribe microregion - CE

Abstract

Teacher education in Geography in Brazil gained prominence between the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, driven by techno-scientific and social transformations that led to curricular reforms in schools and universities. This study aimed to analyze the relationships between universities and schools in the initial training and professionalization of Geography teachers in the Baixo Jaguaribe microregion, Ceará State. The research was grounded in a literature review based on Brzezinski (1998), Lima (2008), Nóvoa (2019), Nascimento (2019), among others. It also included an analysis of relevant legislation on teacher education and, as part of the fieldwork, an examination of Geography undergraduate programs in the region, along with semi-structured questionnaires administered to Geography teachers in Basic Education. The results show that certain curricular components and institutional projects, such as the Institutional Teaching Initiation Scholarship Program (PIBID) and Nós Propomos!, help to bridge the gap between universities and schools in initial teacher education and strengthen the professionalization of the teachers surveyed. However, challenges remain, such as the distance between academic and school Geography, the scarcity of public policies encouraging teaching initiation, and the limited number of positions in programs that promote the insertion of undergraduates into the school environment. These issues highlight the need to rethink teacher education policies in order to value the articulation between theory and practice and to strengthen the partnership between training institutions and Basic Education schools, which are also spaces of formation.