Why should Chronobiology be included in teachers’ training?

Carvalho-Mendes, Rubia Pereira; Menna-Barreto, Luiz

doi:10.1590/1980-6248-2021-0030EN

Rubia Pereira Carvalho-Mendes Corresponding author:Rubia Pereira Carvalho Mendes - Universidade de São Paulo – USP, Escola de Artes Ciências e Humanidades, Av. Arlindo Bettio, 1000, São Paulo, SP, 03828-000, Brasil.

Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Escola de Artes Ciências e Humanidades - EACH, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. rubiamendes@alumni.usp.br

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-0837

Luiz Menna-Barreto

Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Escola de Artes Ciências e Humanidades - EACH, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. menna@usp.br

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0569-6644

1
Responsible editor: Pedro da Cunha Pinto Neto - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-2109

Corresponding author:
Rubia Pereira Carvalho Mendes - Universidade de São Paulo – USP, Escola de Artes Ciências e Humanidades, Av. Arlindo Bettio, 1000, São Paulo, SP, 03828-000, Brasil.

Authors’ contributions:

Carvalho-Mendes, Rubia Pereira - Conceptualization (Equal), Data curation (Leader), Formal Analysis (Leader), Granting demand (Equal), Investigation (Equal), Methodology (Leader), Project Management (Leader), Resources (Equal), Software (Equal), Supervision (Support), Validation (Equal), Visualization (Equal), Writing-original draft (Leader), Writing- review and edition (Support).

Menna-Barreto, Luiz - Conceptualization (Equal), Data curation (Support), Formal Analysis (Support), Granting demand (Equal), Investigation (Equal), Methodology (Support), Project Management (Support), Resources (Equal), Software (Equal), Supervision (Leader), Validation (Equal), Visualization (Equal), Writing-original draft (Support), Writing- review and edition (Leader).

Syllabus		Practical activities
1^.st day	Introduction to Chronobiology; Cycle wakefulness/sleep; memory and learning;	Sleep diary and identification of chronotypes
2.^nd day	Ontogenesis of biological rhythms: observing the changes that take place in each educational phase; Guidelines to present seminars;	Levels of alertness before and after a ludic activity, involving music
3^.rd day	Themes of Chronobiology based on Brazilian educational curriculum with suggestions of activities; Human and Biological Sciences; biological rhythms and health: a personal reflection;	Workshop Time in Live. Available at: http://www.each.usp.br/crono
4^.th day	Debate on the results of practical activities; presentation of seminars; participants’ critical report and closure.	Construction of an actogram

Analyzed area and comment	Excerpts of some participants’ critical reports
Meeting personal expectations: The course allowed the understanding of Chronobiology. We also perceived that the subject was considered new for many participants.	“My expectation was met, because I got knowledge on a subject, so far, unknown”. “The contribution of the course was effective, because I learned different concepts and multidisciplinary use”.
Course uses: By the reports, we also perceived that the course was adequate to be applied in the personal life and professional practice of participants.	“these days I discovered myself. Now I know more about how to respect my limits, that of others, and improve my work as an educator”. “These concepts connected to the reflections I did during the whole course raised a new perspective on my personal life as well as my pedagogical practice”.
General perceptions: Many participants reported that the course brought a new concept on the functions of sleep, its importance, as well as on the changes that take place during development.	“I believed that sleep was an irrelevant physiological need and little related to pedagogical development. I thought it was simply a moderator of organic functions not associated with cognition”. “I had no idea about the different physiological needs throughout our development. This is why it is so important to disseminate this information”.
Future suggestions: The main suggestions present in the reports were regarding the dissemination of the course.	“Maybe you should have a different name to disseminate the course, as it is an interdisciplinary knowledge still unknown in the area of education. For example: to know you time and the time of your student”. “The course could start one week earlier (…) Many professionals resume their activities in the last week of January”.

Educational phase	Description of the theme of each seminar
Childhood education Theme: Individual differences and essential care	Objective: Reflect about the organization of children’s sleep schedule due to the activities performed by the parents and the school. Instruments and procedures: Diary of activities used by teachers and parents, which would work together in the record of sleep schedules and the main activities done by children. At school, the teacher would complement the proposal of didactic activities, making children recognize their body needs through music, dance, arts, and nap, presenting the differences regarding activity and rest.
Elementary and Middle school Theme: Rhythms of nature	Objective: Understand that nature has different rhythms, which are influenced by external factors, such as the movement of the planet. Instruments and procedures: Signs printed on bond paper, with information of cyclic events. Examples: Hibernation, body temperature, flourishing of plants, tides, menstrual cycles, etc. The signs should be grouped in three categories, according to the time spent at each event to complete itself. After the activity, the group related these events with the movements of rotation and translation of the Earth and the Moon and explained the influence of these phenomena on the life of living beings and the manifestation of different rhythms.
High School: Biological Sciences Theme: Biological diversity	Objective: Relate the biological rhythms of different organisms with the adaptation and survival of living beings to, then, introduce the study of levels of organization of living beings. Instruments and procedures: Envelopes with images of different living beings (bacteria, protozoa, fungi, animals, and vegetables) were distributed among the groups, who should make a research to check the possibility of relating these bodies with some rhythmic characteristics such as gestation time; reproduction, disease cycle, seasonality; sleep habits, diet, etc. After, a discussion about the differences observed between the organisms with the adaptation and survival of species.
High School: Human Sciences Theme: Individual and culture	Objective: Discuss how sleep is understood in different cultures. Instruments and procedures: The structure of the class was divided into two phases: 1^st) Discussion on the way of sleeping. Questions to reflect “Do all cultures sleep in the same way? What are the different ways to sleep and objects used during sleep? What are the preconcepts about the times of sleeping and waking up?” 2^nd) Observation of individual rhythms using a sleep diary. After recording, we proposed activities in which the group should discuss naps, dreams, difficulty to sleep and wake up.
Youth and Adult education (YAE) Theme: Human beings and Health	Objective: Identify individual differences and during life regarding sleeping patterns and performance of activities. Instruments and procedures: The structure of the class was divided into two phases: 1^st) Assembling a timeline with information on times of sleeping and waking up, the main activities (for example: study, work, leisure, etc.) and the times of greater disposition in different life phases (childhood, teenage hood, adulthood). Activities in circle with the presentation of each timeline, followed by a discussion based on the observed differences. 2^nd) Introduction to the basic knowledge of Chronobiology. The group ended with a discussion on the importance of knowing and caring for their own bodies, as well as organizing their daily activities.

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Responsible editor: Pedro da Cunha Pinto Neto - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-2109

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Abstract