In-service online continuing education: Early years teachers and the development of knowledge about geometry, quantities and measurements
Didactic knowledge of mathematics; pedagogical content knowledge; continuing online in-service training; mathematics education; early years.
This research contemplates a demand for continued in-service training of educators in the initial years of Elementary School in mathematics. The goals are to identify and analyze contributions from a short course taught in an online format, and secondarily, to illustrate signs of development in knowledge about geometry, quantities, and measurements; and elucidate elements of practices and experiences that emerged throughout the training. This is a formation-research, and the data was produced from the researcher's diaries, records of activities carried out, online interactions, questionnaires and reports from the teachers. The participation of one of the educators was analyzed, including mentions of her professional trajectory, her memories as a student, her contributions during participation in the course and explanation of the process of planning and developing tasks. An analysis was also carried out from a panoramic and collective perspective of the participation of teachers completing the course. The analyzes highlight the value of sharing experiences online in a training group and heterogeneous experiences, particularly about geometry, magnitudes, and measurements, in addition to elucidating the relevance and need for teacher training in an ongoing format. The results indicate development in knowledge about geometry, magnitudes, and measurements and, particularly, evidence of the power of elements of practices and classroom experiences that emerged in the training environment. The thesis defended is that the development of didactic knowledge of mathematics is enhanced through interactive processes involving recognition of concepts, sharing of practices and reflection based on personal experiences.