3.1 Training perspectives

The Program was developed during the Covid-19 pandemic and we recognize that teachers played a fundamental role during this period of crisis, not only for schooling to continue but also for hope to remain. Thus, having a trained professional to work with children, adolescents, young people, and adults has become essential. To ^{Nóvoa and Alvim (2022}, p. 27):

[...] the pandemic has made it clear that the potential for a response lies more with teachers than with policies or institutions. Well-prepared teachers, with autonomy, working together, inside and outside the school space, in connection with families, are always the best guarantee of timely and adequate solutions.

The activities developed during the Online Mentoring Program were intended to contribute to the professional development of teachers, stimulating processes of reflection on training, self-training, and teaching practice that would make it possible to rethink teaching, this extended to all those involved, beginner teachers, experienced teachers, scholarship holders and the Program's executing and collaborating teams. Thus, the professional perspective is approached and monitored in the Program. Therefore, regarding the activities developed in the extension action with their professional training, the scholarship holders mentioned that:

Still concerning my professional training, I was able to put myself in the shoes of both participants in the Program, especially in the shoes of beginner teachers, because sometimes I asked myself: 'What if it were me?'. Because start teaching is not what one imagines. Teachers deal with many challenges within the classroom, within the school, and beyond it. Teachers who are beginning to feel the weight that the responsibility that the name 'teacher' brings; feel fear, insecurity, and self-doubt, and often face the disbelief of others, which ends up making them more insecure. And why not say that they also have to face the special needs of their students and/or the disorders they may have as problems? (Scholarship Holder 1).

The activities elaborated in the Program encouraged me to look with a new perspective on teaching/learning. This will allow us a new way of teaching and passing on our knowledge as teachers. The Project has a vision that could be compared with undergraduate courses. For example, I, as a graduate student, think about how to start as a teacher. We're all scared in front of a classroom, I suppose. Fear does not only arise as people in academic training processes but also as citizens who, in the exercise of teaching, should teach and have the responsibility to build knowledge for the improvement of society [...] (Scholarship Holder 2).

Closely monitoring this Program was extremely enlightening and important. It proposes to show the effectiveness of the follow-up and, consequently, the training of the beginner teacher inside the classroom and as a citizen outside of it. I was able to observe the concerns, doubts, and tensions and get to know the pressures and many other challenges of the beginner teacher regarding their work. This showed how much they need mentoring and advice, in addition to respect for their profession and, consequently, respect for their students, who will be the ones who will receive the teachings (Scholarship Holder 3).

It is a fact that the mishaps faced in the initiation to teaching are not few and that each person learns being a teacher with the difficulties and challenges present in the profession. In this sense, the opportunity to get to know the Program emerges as a perspective of training and self-training for all participants, in addition to professional induction for beginner teachers, who were accompanied by experienced teachers.

The formative perspectives are shown in the testimonies of the scholarship holders, who show a feeling of empathy with the experiences and challenges that are entailed in the teaching profession. They recognize that the beginning of their career differs from the idealization they establish at graduation, therefore the teacher's work is marked by conflicts, and difficulties that are beyond the professional, as they are within the scope of public policies or the professional category, for example.

Another aspect cited by the scholarship holders is related to other professional learning, because, when referring to their initiation into teaching as one full of fears, insecurities, doubts, concerns, tensions, and pressures, they demonstrate the possibility of forming themselves by looking at the other (the one who already develops the work in the classroom), which is taken as an example. Training also occupies this cultural place that is formative, of learning to be a teacher based on experiences, the students and the other teachers.

Between idealization and reality, experiencing these extremes in the Mentoring Program, considering the fears and insecurities of beginner teachers, implies questioning, for example, how much the idealization of the profession can impact the career of these teachers. In this sense, the Program presents a perspective of thinking about training that is aligned with the reality of the contexts of Basic Education schools, establishing a constant dialogue between universities and institutions that will be the future field of action of undergraduates.

The teaching profession that was presented to these scholarship holders outside the classroom, but with experiences (narrated/heard) that seem very vivid, took professional induction as that capable of playing the role of making people learn, which awakens curiosities and possibilities to build their careers. In an interview given to Carlota ^{Boto (2018}, p. 20), António Nóvoa states:

Teacher training should be thought of in the cycle of professional development: initial training, professional induction, and continuing training. The first responsibility of the University is with the degrees (initial training of teachers). However, it is not possible to conceive training for a profession without, at the same time, thinking about the period of professional integration, namely through teaching residency programs, and the period of professional practice with continuing training programs.

Teaching induction, as a follow-up process for teaching professionals at the beginning of their careers, is also configured as a process of continued education, since in this context teachers learn to practice the profession, constitute themselves as teachers, and improve in this trajectory. This support received becomes an important aspect of teaching construction, thus “[...] we understand that this beginning is an initiation to teaching, it is a construction of teaching; of the ways of being a teacher, of a specific way of doing the pedagogical work, of a particularity concerning the identity constitution” (^{Ferreira, 2021c}, p. 12).

The feelings narrated by the scholarship holders (fears, insecurities, doubts, concerns, tensions, and pressures) make up the repertoire of characteristics of professional initiation (^{Ferreira, 2020}, 2021a, 2021c; Ferreira; Anunciato, 2018a, 2018b; Ferreira; Marinho; Chaves, 2022; ^{Santos, 2019}; Santos; Ferreira; ^{Ferraz, 2020}). When entering the profession, teachers feel the “weight of responsibility”, as in Scholarship Holder 1's report. This responsibility involves the roles played by teachers, mainly from the perspective of social change.

As for the construction and dissemination of knowledge from the Program, the scholarship holders reported that the program fulfilled its role, as well as the perspective that there was an incentive on the need to build a new look at the teaching and learning process and to disseminate knowledge in the classroom. All this learning was formative for the scholarship holders; in addition to going through their initial training, it configures continued training. They began to think about the teaching profession more broadly, approaching its challenges and difficulties. The Program made it possible for the scholarship holders to get to know the profession and the dynamics of its operation based on the follow-up of the partnership: beginner teacher and mentor teacher. Thus, the Program was successful not only for the subjects directly involved in the induction process (mentor teacher and beginner teacher) but also for the scholarship holders, expanding their understanding of the teaching profession and contributing to the training of these undergraduates.

The complexity involved in teacher training involves the need for a political discussion, the defense of an education geared towards change, valuing teachers' professional knowledge, and better working conditions. We have experienced serious crises concerning the teaching profession, according to ^{Ferreira (2021b}), which has greatly affected teacher training, being decisive in choosing this profession or not. Therefore, it is necessary, according to ^{Nóvoa (2012}), to return teacher training to teachers, which implies changes in the way of looking at and conducting it.

Even with the limitation of the pandemic and the exceptionality of the context in which the Mentorship Program took place, it did not stop the training and the participation of beginner and experienced teachers. In fact, the online dynamic contributed, in times of health crisis, social isolation, and ERT, to aggregate participants, since it could not be done otherwise, due to the need for social distancing.

3.2 Construction of knowledge

In addition to the formative perspective that reveals learning of the teaching profession, we also have the construction of knowledge from the Online Mentoring Program. This construction was not only experienced by the beginner and experienced teachers that participated but by all those involved in this training, including the scholarship holders.

Construdoc made it possible for me to see the commitment to the other and the sharing of knowledge, where those who know more, the mentor teachers, with a wide range of activities, felt the importance, urgency, and need to smooth the path of others. [...] This Program also allowed me to be in contact with other people, to work as a team, to reflect on my future, and to act assiduously, performing duties together with the Program's guiding professor [...]. A Program like this, which opens up opportunities, allows exchange between peers, supports subjects who are starting to teach and encourages them to stay and resist, promotes the teaching-learning experience, clears our minds in the face of difficulties in the field of action, as well as making us more human (Scholarship Holder 1).

Building teaching is not simply waiting for someone to get up from a fall. It is, above all, reaching out and lifting the other. It's teaching/learning. The name says it all, whose function is to build teachers capable of developing their functions more confidently, through other experiences. [...]. The Mentoring Program (Construdoc) emerged as a new possibility for building knowledge, which enables a mutual exchange, even though it is online, which did not prevent us from meeting new people and how they deal with their experiences in acting as teachers. I, as a student, despite having never actually taught, was amazed at how this exchange can enable the beginner teacher to have a new look at teaching and how to teach, each with its peculiarities and challenges in the classroom, and, especially with this new form of remote teaching. [...] It is/was notorious in the 'meetings' that each one had their own difficulty in developing tasks, either due to the lack of students or the number of them. This showed the importance of exchanging knowledge. Construdoc not only reached Itapetinga, but other regions, and states, this is impressive, because we understand that the difficulty is not restricted to only one group of teachers, from the poorest or most developed state. There are problems and conflicts, and nothing is more beautiful and human than the contribution of this Program to the teaching career. It is necessary, I can say as a 'future teacher', that we are assisted in teaching so that we can develop professionally with contributions from others. When this assistance comes from experienced teachers, perhaps more hope and love for knowledge and a new look at teaching can arise (Scholarship Holder 2).

[...] the importance that the teacher has in the life of any individual is clear, since no profession, however, valued it may be, reaches recognition without going through the teacher. Therefore, I have always questioned myself - and by following it closely I could see - how undervalued teachers are in our society, apart from the verbal and physical aggression that teachers experience in the classroom. Imagine the beginning teacher going through these questions without any experience. Because of this, I am sure how enlightening it was for the teacher participating in this extension program [...]. Learning up close as a scholarship holder about this issue was very enriching (Scholarship Holder 3).

^{Tardif (2014}, p. 35) reports that “[...] all knowledge implies a process of learning and training”. Scholarship holders built knowledge in this training process. This training is configured as continuous, based on an outreach program aimed at professional induction and teacher training that took place in a context of exceptionality, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore demanding the construction of plural knowledge.

Teaching learning also takes place through the construction of knowledge. Scholarship holders experimented with actions that referred to knowledge in the development of the Program. The organizational dynamics of Construdoc is an example of this, in which an experienced teacher helps a beginner teacher, in an act of sharing, support, advice, monitoring, and partnership. Therefore, those with more experience help those who are starting to teach. By encouraging the sharing of knowledge, the Program enabled beginner teachers to acquire new perspectives on the teaching-learning process and on coping with conflicts in the classroom.

Valuing knowledge and building it within the scope of training is an important action in the teaching-learning process. In the Program, the knowledge of beginning and experienced teachers was the starting point for establishing dialogue and learning. Through this extension action, the TPD was promoted and favored with actions of professional induction, training, construction of knowledge, appreciation of experiences, with reflection processes, among others, for all those involved.

Scholarship holders also highlighted that Construdoc reflected the teaching profession and the commitment necessary to carry it out. Extending your hand, an expression that portrays support for teachers, is in line with a perspective of continued education, as beginner teachers have the opportunity to learn from more experienced ones, building confidence in their actions and improving their practices.

The scholarship holders' speeches focused on the complexity of teaching knowledge, which goes beyond knowledge related to subjects and curricula and involves those related to pedagogical practices, reflection on the profession, and sharing and caring for others. Thus, the Program was configured as this formative space for the construction, exchange, and appreciation of this knowledge.

Professional socialization (^{Almeida; Pimenta; Fusari, 2019}), a very evident aspect of the Program, is configured as its structuring axis, as well as a promoter of development, which is not a static process, but in constant movement (^{Ferreira, 2021c}). The participation of scholarship holders in the Program enabled them to learn about incentives, staying in the teaching profession, teamwork, supported work, building new ways of looking at the teaching career, the needs of beginner teachers, the importance of teachers in society, etc.

Therefore, we understand that the data presented here about the UESB Online Mentoring Program show that there was learn teaching on the part of the first scholarship holders of this outreach program. As such, we have evidence that the Program was constituted as a possibility of training and induction during the pandemic, mainly, with the limitations that the health crisis imposed. Thus, it became an “[...] innovative way of training and building knowledge, with priority given to overcoming current challenges” (^{Ferreira, 2021c}, p. 13). Learning from teaching, according to Lucimar Ferreira, Barreto, and Lúcia Ferreira (2021), is learning in constant renewal.