Dilemmas of teaching in distance education: a study about professional development under the perspective of tutors of the e-Tec Brazil Network

Abstract:

Teaching is configured as a profession because it has a body of specific knowledge for its exercise, besides; it can be learned continuously. Throughout their professional career, teachers reinterpret and extend knowledge related to their initial training and build new ones through practice and interactions with students. Thus, one can think of virtual tutoring as an activity that contributes to the professional development of teachers, promoting the construction of knowledge through experience. This article presents results of a study whose objective was to analyze how the performance in virtual tutoring of courses of distance education (DE), mediated by digital information and communication technologies, can contribute to the professional development of teachers. The methodological triangulation used for this investigation observed the following stages: survey and literature study; data collection through questionnaires, individual interviews, press conferences sessions and official document analysis; systematization and analysis of data; and dissemination of results. The subjects of the research were the virtual tutors of distance education courses offered by the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo (Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de São Paulo - IFSP), through the e-Tec Brazil Network. Among the main results, it was observed that the experience in virtual tutoring can be considered an element that contributes to the professional development of teachers, even though it generates some dilemmas.

Keywords:
professional development; distance tutoring; teacher education; distance education; federal technical school