TEACHER PROFESSION: A CASE STUDY ON TEACHING PRACTICE (EJA) IN A PENITENTIARY PDF.IV

Abstract

This study evaluates the teaching profession in relation to teaching practices at Penitentiary IV of the Federal District – PDF.IV / Papuda Complex (Brasil). The methodology employed was bibliographic and documentary research, with a mixed-methods approach and exploratory character. Data collection involved an online questionnaire composed of five closed-ended questions and one open-ended question. Ten basic education teachers working in Youth and Adult Education (YAE/EJA), specifically within the prison system, participated. The results showed a need to expand the provision of the first segment of EJA (Elementary School I – initial years), particularly in the first and second stages for adult literacy. Furthermore, the study identified a need for an effective continuing education program emphasizing the specificities and needs of teachers working in prisons in the Federal District, as well as the provision of medical and psychological assistance for monitoring the socio-mental health of teachers. Another important point observed was the precariousness of daily work due to the lack of pedagogical and even technological resources for better performance in teaching practice. Finally, it was found that the existence of bars between students and the teacher in the classroom cells greatly hinders the interaction and learning processes of students in prison-based Youth and Adult Education; for teachers, the bars represent distance and dehumanization, being elements of ironclad paradox to the proper process of resocialization in the prison environment through public education.