O ensino investigativo nas aulas de ciências: Reflexos na prática pedagógica de professores a partir da Implementação do referencial curricular em Toledo-PR

Abstract

Inquiry-based teaching, the subject of this research, constitutes a didactic approach that implies the active participation of students in the construction of scientific knowledge, favoring the development of critical thinking and autonomy. The research problem sought to answer: How do teachers in the municipal school system of Toledo-PR understand inquiry-based science teaching, and what are the potential and challenges for implementing it based on the Curriculum Framework? The general objective was to analyze the initial impacts of the implementation of the Framework in the municipal school system of Toledo-PR, focusing on science teaching from an inquiry perspective, identifying, based on the teachers' discourse, the potential and weaknesses for applying and implementing it. This is a qualitative and field research, which began with the sending (to the schools' email addresses) of a questionnaire via Google Forms to teachers who teach the Science curriculum component. Initially, the aim was to outline the general profile of this audience and obtain indicators about their participation in the elaboration of the municipality's Curriculum Framework. This questionnaire served as the basis for composing the research sample, which consisted of four teachers selected based on the following established criteria: teachers who the participants were science teachers with three to five years of experience in this curricular component. These teachers had worked with the subject before the implementation of the Curricular Framework, allowing them to be familiar with both the previous and current curricular documents, thus enabling them to establish connections between the proposed methodologies. Given the teachers acceptance and availability, the next stage of the research consisted of individual, face-to-face semi-structured interviews aimed at deepening the understanding of the challenges and possibilities encountered in teaching practice in relation to inquiry-based teaching. Data analysis was conducted from the perspective of Discourse Analysis (Bakhtin and his Circle). The results demonstrated that the teachers understand and value science teaching from an inquiry-based perspective, recognizing the importance of curiosity, questioning, and teacher mediation in this process. However, its implementation has been partial and strained, highlighting a the gap between what the Curriculum Framework envisions and what is actually practiced is significant. Among the main challenges, the pressures of external evaluations, such as the Basic Education Assessment System (SAEB), the overload due to teachers multi-skilling in the early years, and the limitation of material resources stood out. Despite these weaknesses, potential emerged related to valuing students' prior knowledge, understanding science as a process, and the presence of inquiry-based teaching as a guiding pedagogical horizon for practices.