UFSCar mentoring programs: theoretical-methodological basis, characteristics and contributions

Abstract

In Brazil, political factors showed to be related to educational` historical inequalities, including access, permanence, and quality of the teaching-learning processes for students and their teachers. These conditions, among others, demand the elaboration and application of policies focused on teachers and their professional development. For these initiatives to be successful, we defend the importance of robust, systematic, and continuous formative actions in the educational qualification of teachers, in their initial training, and throughout their careers, especially at the beginning. The importance of support is recognized so that these professionals become socialized in the school culture, accomplish what is expected of them and can deal with the typical difficulties of this professional activity. This article, inspired by the synthesis of qualitative evidence, analyzes the contributions of four mentoring programs to the professional learning of beginning teachers of Early Years and Physical Education with a focus on teaching. To this end, we present a systematization of the results of five dissertations and seven theses on mentoring programs developed at the XXX. We introduce aspects related to the theoretical and methodological bases, principles, characteristics, and results of these initiatives that may subsidize public policies of teacher induction. Each program presents specificities, such as aid to beginner teachers who work at distinct levels of education, characteristics of the mentors, and use of the Internet and virtual tools. Based on the results, we problematize aspects related to the proposition and development of induction policies for beginning teachers in the Brazilian context.