THE ROLE OF TEACHER TRAINER IN TRAINING ACTION: AN EXPERIENCE IN CONSTRUCTIONIST APPROACH

Abstract

This paper is a part of a research whose objective is to analyze the role of the teacher trainer in a teacher training action experienced by a group of ten mathematics teachers from sixth to ninth grade of elementary school. This training was organized to discuss the use of educational laptops, focusing on the use of the software klogo, which was distributed in schools covered by the project Um Computador por Aluno/UCA (One Computer per Student), in the city of Terenos, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The training action was guided by studies by Papert (2008), about the constructionist approach. Studies by Brousseau (2008), about the Theory of Didactical Situations, contributed to defining the role of the teacher trainer during the training of the teachers involved, and studies developed by Valente (2005) about the Cycle Action and Learning Spiral made it possible to understand some of the roles of teacher trainers in the construction of knowledge with computers. The analysis reveals some of the characteristics of the role of teacher trainers, such as to propose and create significant problems, not directly intervene in the knowledge in the proposed situations; create a challenging environment, constantly questioning teachers about their certainties, leading them to think about thinking and consequently favoring the process of knowledge construction.

Keywords: Continuing Education; teacher trainer; Constructionist approach; Educational laptops.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/19827199726