TEACHING EXPERIENCE IN PROEJA WITHIN THE PEDAGOGY OF ALTERNATION: BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE, SENSIBILITY, AND COLLECTIVITY

Abstract

This article presents an excerpt from a doctoral study that investigated one of the Professional Education institutions in Brazil that adopt the Pedagogy of Alternation with Youth and Adult Education students — the Federal Institute of Pará, Castanhal Campus. The research aimed to understand how teachers narrate their experiences with the Pedagogy of Alternation, highlighting the knowledge, challenges, and formative meanings that emerge from their trajectories. The study is grounded in authors such as Silva (2018), Gimonet (1998), Shulman (2014), Mizukami (2010), D’Ávila (2022), and Freire (1996). Methodologically, it employed the Narrative Interview (Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2008) and adopted Textual Discursive Analysis as the analytical strategy, encompassing three stages: unitization, categorization, and metatext production. The findings reveal that experiential knowledge constitutes the core of teacher learning in PROEJA, articulated in three dimensions: the integration of disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge within the context of Alternation; sensitivity to students’ histories, contexts, and languages; and collective work among peers. The teachers’ narratives emphasized the need to transform content based on the realities of rural students, to understand Alternation as a formative practice that unites theory and life, and to recognize the unfinished nature of teaching. Structural and organizational challenges were also identified, reinforcing the importance of collaborative continuing education. As a result, the Círculo de Saberes-Formação sobre EJA-EPT na Perspectiva da Pedagogia da Alternância was developed — a formative initiative that strengthens collective and emancipatory processes of teacher education within Brazil’s Federal Network.