Abstract:

For those who wish to assume themselves as intellectual professionals committed to solving problems and investigating the work carried out in their classes, in communities of practice, writing is a fundamental instrument for the professional development of teachers (Allard et al., 2007). More than a tool at the service of an investigative process, it is expected that the writing of professional diaries stimulates awareness, analysis and reflection on practice and helps to theorize it. The primary objective of this study is to understand the perspectives of six teachers from the 1st CBE on the importance of writing diaries in their professional development, in a community of practice – the Portuguese Movement of the Modern School. As specific objectives, the following were defined: (i) describing the interactions written in professional diaries; (ii) identifying the types of writing present in professional diaries; (iii) characterizing the potential of writing diaries in deepening teacher reflection to raise awareness, improve and problematize practice and educational purposes. This study presented a methodology of a qualitative nature, organized in the form of a ramified single-case study, the case being a research-training project and the sub-cases being the six teachers and their training process. As data collection techniques used, we highlight individual semi-structured interviews and Focus Group interviews. Through them, we focus on the participants' perspectives on the professional diaries produced. Content analysis was used to treat the data collected. In terms of results, the production of writing in the form of diaries, supported cooperatively and dialogically by peers, and furthered by a critical use of the theory, contributed to deeper reflection on the practice and to a more sustained construction of knowledge. Thus, the findings show that writing diaries contributed to the professional development of the six 1st Cycle teachers involved in this study.

Keywords:

Professional diaries, Research-training, Communities of practice.