Atividade para casa a partir de crenças e concepções pelas práticas de professoras e estudantes dos Anos Iniciais

Abstract

Homework is a pedagogical resource routinely used in Brazilian schools with the aim of assisting teachers in the teaching process and, consequently, supporting students in the learning process. With the purpose of discussing this type of activity from subjects who use it in a more direct way, the research portrayed in the dissertation had as its main objective to analyze beliefs and conceptions through home activity practices in teaching and learning processes in the Elementary School. Of this objective, two others guided the research: i) identify and discuss understandings and practices of two teachers about the homework in the learning process and ii) identify and analyze representations and practices of six students about the homework in their processes of learning. The multipaper format was the option for organizing the dissertation, consisting of an introductory chapter, three articles and a chapter of considerations. The research is characterized as a qualitative and phenomenological approach. With the intention of understanding Brazilian works that focus on the topic, a bibliographical survey of dissertations and theses was carried out. Two teachers and six students from two classes in the 4th grad of Elementary School at a municipal school in Contagem (MG) were the research participants. To produce data, class moments related to the explanation or correction of homework were observed, interviews were carried out with the two teachers and discussions were carried out with the six students based on the composition of a focus group. The theoretical framework refers to studies on beliefs, conceptions, representations and knowledge. Data analysis highlights beliefs and conceptions of teachers who perceive homework as a necessary resource for schooling. Students, in turn, are still forming their representations about this resource, but they tend to mirror the same beliefs as those around them, as well as those of their teachers. In this way, the activity is valued by the school community, which uses it in a natural way as part of the school culture. The participants’ representations revealed that the homework has different objectives that facilitate learning, but are not always achieved. The teachers base their understanding of the home activity on the beliefs they have through their experiences in contact with this type of activity and not on knowledge about the topic. However, there is no clear guidance regarding its use and no verification of its implications. We infer, from the analysis of the objectives attributed by research participants to the resource, that the homework is well liked by the school community and is used in favor of the students’ learning process. However, it has caveats, such as: meeting all learning levels of heterogeneous classes and being carried out by students who are not yet literate and unassisted in their particularities.