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Ensino em Re-Vista

versão On-line ISSN 1983-1730

Ensino em Re-Vista vol.29  Uberlândia  2022  Epub 08-Jun-2023

https://doi.org/10.14393/er-v29a2022-22 

DEMANDA CONTÍNUA

The teaching knowledge of pedagogical coordinators: threads and beads of a beautiful necklace1

Caroline Vieira de Souza2 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4500-5951

Andréa Coelho Lastória3 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0060-0116

Filomena Elaine Paiva Assolini4 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8433-4862

2Master's degree in Education from The Faculdadde of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto - FFCRRP-SP / University of São Paulo - USP, Brazil. Email: k.souza@hotmail.com.

3Free professor of the Faculdadde of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto - FFCRRP-SP / University of São Paulo - USP, Brazil. Email: lastoria@ffclrp.usp.br.

4Free professor at the Faculdadde of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto - FFCRRP-SP / University of São Paulo - USP, Brazil. Email: elainefdoc@ffclrp.usp.br.


RESUMO

The article presents a study on the teaching knowledge of five Pedagogical Coordinators from the municipal public school in Ribeirão Preto - SP. We assume that, just like teachers exercising their role, coordinators mobilize, build and reconstruct teacher knowledge in the actions they perform. The study was developed through semi-structured interviews, in a qualitative approach. The results reveal that being an articulator, facilitator and teachers' development professional, the coordinators explicitly verbalize teaching knowledge about their role. In addition, when reporting their practices, they adopt actions that promote dialogue and build partnerships in schools, identifying obstacles that might impair their role as teachers’ formers. From the practices described, we infer that the actions reported by the coordinators reveal professional knowledge of teaching not verbalized at first by these professionals, but could be observed in their practice.

KEYWORDS: Pedagogical Coordinator; Teaching knowledge; Teacher development

RESUMO

O artigo apresenta um estudo sobre os saberes docentes de cinco coordenadores pedagógicos da rede pública municipal de Ribeirão Preto - SP. Partimos do pressuposto que, assim como os professores em exercício, os coordenadores mobilizam, constroem e reconstroem saberes docente nas ações que realizam. O estudo desenvolveu-se por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, em uma abordagem qualitativa. Os resultados revelam que ser articulador, facilitador e formador de professores, são saberes docentes que os coordenadores verbalizam, explicitamente, sobre seu papel. Além disso, ao relatarem suas práticas, adotam ações que promovem o diálogo e a construção de parcerias nas escolas, e, também, identificam entraves encontrados para desempenharem o papel de formadores de professores. A partir das práticas descritas, inferimos que as ações relatas pelos coordenadores revelam saberes profissionais da docência não verbalizados, a priori, por estes profissionais.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Coordenador Pedagógico; Saberes docentes; Formação de professores

RESUMEN

El artículo presenta una investigación sobre los saberes docentes de cinco coordinadores pedagógicos de la red pública municipal de Ribeirão Preto - SP. Hemos partido de la idea que, así como el profesorado, los coordinadores pedagógicos movilizan, construyen y reconstruyen saberes docentes en las acciones que realizan. La investigación se ha realizado por medio de encuestas semiestructuradas en un abordaje cualitativo de la investigación educativa. Los resultados señalan que ser articulador, facilitador y formador de profesores se constituye en saberes docentes que los coordinadores verbalizan, explícitamente, sobre su rol profesional. Además, al relataren sus prácticas, adoptan acciones que promueven el diálogo y la construcción de parcerias en las escuelas, y también identifican per calzos para desempeñar el rol de formadores de profesores. A partir de las prácticas descritas señalamos que las acciones traídas a la luz por los coordinadores revelan saberes profesionales de la docencia no verbalizados, a priori, por estos profesionales.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Coordinador Pedagógico; Saberes docentes; Formação de professores

The beads, everyone sees it. No one notices the thread that,

in beautiful necklace, goes composing the beads.

Mia Couto

Threads that permeate the beads: the knowledge and teaching

Throughout professional development, the teacher is able to expand his field of activity, leave the classroom space and rebuild teaching knowledge. Taking on pedagogical coordination is one of those possibilities.

Both teachers in practice and pedagogic teachers live daily with the complexity of the school space, and, to deal with the reality lived, exercise their professionalism, anchoring it in knowledge and teaching knowledge of various natures.

The current bibliography recognizes that, in the exercise of teaching, teachers who work in the classroom or involved in other school activities (such as the Pedagogical Coordinator, for example), reveal understandings about their role in education and about the mechanisms of constitution of professionalism, based on systematized knowledge, validated and historically formalized by educational institutions and knowledge/learnings derived from their educational practice.

We understand that, like the teacher, the coordinator

(...) he is not a worker who is content to apply means and who behaves like an agent of an organization: he is the subject of his own work and an actor of his pedagogy, because he is the one who models, who gives it body and meaning in contact with the students (negotiating, improvising, adapting). (TARDIF, 2012, p. 149)

In this process of negotiation, interaction and adaptation to the context of action, the coordinator is a teaching professional, capable of building its own pedagogical work space, without disregarding the complexities on a daily basis, especially if we consider him as a "subject of knowledge, an actor who develops and always has theories, knowledge and knowledge of his own action" (TARDIF, 2012, p. 235).

We were based on the work ‘’The thread of the beads’’ (Os fios das micangas), by Mia Couto (2009) and in the defiance about this work, made by Gouveia and Placco (2013), 5to identify what are the teaching knowledge of pedagogical coordinators worked in the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP and discuss them in the light of the theoretical framework of the educational area. We assume that the knowledge of pedagogic coordinator can be explicit, declared, easily recognized by them, or can assume the aspect of "threads" that permeate the beads of their work, which, as Couto says, are often not easily seen, nor formalized, neither valued.

To reveal "the threads" that permeate the masses of the work of the pedagogic coordinator, we rely on Tardif (2012, p. 11), for whom "knowledge is not something that floats in space: the knowledge of teachers is their knowledge, and it is related to the person and its identity, its life experience and its professional history".

The professional history of coordinators, reveals specific knowledge of professional training, transmitted by educational institutions, and verbally declared by these professionals, while others can be identified in their doing, allowing us, finally, to understand what these professionals do, how they do it, and why they do it the way they do, to formalize and systematize their teaching knowledge.

We recognize that the professional teaching knowledge is not built with the assumption of the position, but along a much longer path than the labor exercise in a progressive way in school, which means that, while inserting himself in these spaces, the coordinator, “internalizes it through action rules that become an integral part of his 'practical consciousness' (TARDIF, 2012, p. 14).

We understand that the knowledge of the coordinators has a very particulate character, especially when we consider such unfinished knowledge, which are constituted in the exteriority, in the collectivity and in the particularity of the practice where they are revealed, re-meant and reconstructed.

For Souza (2012, p. 95), pedagogic coordinator "is the one who organizes, guides and harmonizes group work, through certain methods, according to the system or context in which it is included", so that, while developing its functions, it expands professional knowledge and has the opportunity to learn to be coordinator.

In the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP, place where the research that subsidizes the text was developed, the creation of the position of pedagogic coordinator happened to implement what was foreseen in the official documents of that network. To this end, it was invested in the process 6of selection and contraction of pedagogic coordinators, through a public tender for the provision of positions. According to notice no. 43 / 9837, of November 13, 2016, candidates should present "Full Degree in Pedagogy or Postgraduate in School Management with a minimum workload of 360 hours" and "have at least 03 (three) years of effective exercise in the teaching of Basic Education".

To identify what are the teaching knowledge of pedagogic coordinator who work in the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP and discuss them in the light of the theoretical framework of the educational area, we chose to develop the research in a qualitative approach, which, according to Bogdan and Biklen (1994, p. 49), "requires the world to be explored with the idea that nothing is trivial, that everything has the potential to constitute a clue that allows us to establish a more enlightening understanding of our object of study."

The investigation in question was submitted and approved by the Research Ethics Committee and had the participation of five pedagogical coordinators of the municipal public school system of Ribeirão Preto, which had, in 2020, 31 professionals in the position. The network had, at the time of the research, 108 schools that attend early childhood education, elementary school and youth and adult education.

To compose the "beautiful necklace" of the investigation that subsidizes this text, we invited by e-mail, five coordinators to become our "Beads", who agreed to participate in the research. These professionals work in elementary school, and/or youth and adult education, and have between 5 and 21 years of teaching experience, as well as approximately two years in this position.

In a semi-structured interview held at the school where they work, the coordinators were asked to choose a codename that represented "beads of a beautiful necklace" whose thread would be revealed from the knowledge they verbally declare, and the knowledge indicated by us from the analysis of practices they share during the interview. For this reason, they are called by the names of four minerals and a fossil resin, namely: Emerald, Diamond, Agate, Ruby and Amber.

Beads that come together: pedagogical coordinators, continuing education and the knowledge base

In the process of construction of doing, the pedagogic coordinator assumes, in a shared way with other professionals, one of his main roles: teaching development.

When it comes to continuing education, Borba (2017, p. 21-22 apud Zabalza, 2013), understands that it is

a set of attitudes, knowledge, skills and patterns of conduct that effectively affect many dimensions about the individual and the organization where it is inserted, thus being an essential resource for the personal and social development of the human being.

By acting in formative processes, the coordinators have the opportunity to promote changes in the teaching-learning process, from the investment in the expansion and valorization of teaching knowledge, a powerful way of promoting professional development in different areas, from the personal (emotional) to, and especially, the professional.

To develop their activities and act in teacher training, the coordinator uses a set of knowledge as the foundation s of his practice, which can be understood as his "knowledge base", which, for Shulman (2005) and Backes 7et al (2017), can be organized according to the categories:

TABLE 1 Categories of the knowledge base for teaching according to Shulman (2005) and Backes et al (2017

Knowledge base Main features
Knowledge of the content It addresses the knowledge that the teacher understands that should be taught and learned, which impacts on the expansion of the possibilities of teaching intervention.
General didactic knowledge It comprises management principles and strategies that influence the application of teaching-learning methodologies that favor the knowledge construction.
Knowledge of the curriculum It reveals the teacher's understanding of the contributions of knowledge to the human and professional formation of the subjects.
Didactic knowledge of the content It reveals the understanding of the contents by the teacher, who attributes meanings to it and re-signifies these in his doing. It is responsible for mobilizing the other categories of the knowledge base, revealing, in its practice, the particular conceptions of the teacher about what is taught.
Knowledge of students It deals with knowledge about the students with whom it operates, the contexts in which they live, what they know and how they learn.
Knowledge of educational contexts It reveals the teaching awareness of the macro and micro aspects related to Education and favors the construction of a greater commitment to the institution, the community and society.
Knowledge of educational objectives, purposes and values It reveals the understanding of the social role assumed by education and the teacher in their educational action, based on the philosophical and historical foundations.

Source: Adapted from SHULMAN (2005) and BACKES et al (2017).

Analyzing the categories presented above, Mizukami (2004) organizes another proposal for categorization of the knowledge base for teaching. Such organization is not, from our point of view, far from what is previously presented, on the contrary, both follow in the same direction and compose, to the same extent as for teachers, the knowledge necessary for the performance of the pedagogical coordinator, even though he is in management positions. According to the author's proposition, the knowledge base for teaching can be categorized as follows:

TABLE 2 Categories of the knowledge base for teaching according to Mizukami (2004

Category Characteristics
Knowledge of specific content It concerns the content of the curricular component taught by the teacher, including the understanding of facts, concepts, processes, procedures, etc. of a specific area of knowledge regarding those related to the construction of this area.
General pedagogical knowledge It involves knowledge of theories and principles of the teaching-learning process and students' knowledge, educational contexts, other disciplines and knowledge about its goals, its objectives, and educational purposes.
Pedagogical knowledge of content It is a form of the content’s knowledge, which is built, enriched and improved by the teacher when mixed with other types of knowledge in his teaching practice.

Source: Adapted from MIZUKAMI (2004).

In addition to what is presented in Table 2, Mizukami (2004,) affirms that, in performing its role, the teacher, as well as the pedagogical coordinator, develops, re-signifies, and builds knowledge that emerges from practice and returns to it in other teaching-learning situations, in a constant feedback movement of their doing. This aspect, from our point of view, also approaches the context of the pedagogical coordinator's performance and can be observed in detailing the practice of the coordinators when sharing their performance.

From this perspective, we consider that it is in the doing and "proving itself", that the pedagogic coordinator is professionally constituted, and, in this movement of doing, has the opportunity to evaluate the knowledge produced, accumulated and accessed throughout its formative journey, reconstructing and resignifying them in its action, which includes recognizing that, as well as for the teacher, "it is not enough only to know your discipline well, but also to have knowledge inherent in the act of teaching" (Backers et al, 2017, p. 3), or, to say, the act of "forming", its main role.

The beautiful necklace: the revealed knowledge

The assembly of the "beautiful necklace" of the knowledge of the five participants of this investigation is part of the set of data collected in the semi-structured interview8.

In their statements, the interviewees bring to light knowledge that is clearly recognized by them, especially when they approach what they understand to be the role of the pedagogic coordinator.

The proposals presented by the participants of the research that supports this text allow us to discuss two major characteristics of the professional knowledge of pedagogic Coordinator of the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP, namely:

  • part of the knowledge about their role is explicitly verbalized by the coordinators and work as a guide of their professional practice;

  • some knowledge is revealed when they describe their practical actions, therefore, they are indicated by us as being explicitly nonverbalized knowledge.

For us, the explicit verbalization of the teaching knowledge of the pedagogic coordinator of the investigated network and the approach of their practices, allow us to identify teaching knowledge with different characteristics, that is, the knowledge that has as structural aspects the fact of being "plural, composite, heterogeneous, because it involves, in the very exercise of work, knowledge and a very diverse know-how, from different sources and probably of a different nature" (TARDIF, 2012, p. 18).

For this reason, we agree with the author, the teaching knowledge of teachers, in practice or in other positions, are produced throughout the process of training/development and work, relapse on the professional learning of teaching, which, only the subject himself, can reveal in its doing.

Thus, we consider it important to listen to the "voice" of the coordinators participating in the research, and to explain their own views about the profession, which is, what they can place, with their own words or reports of their doing, the knowledge they have about what they consider to be their role.

You can then see what the coordinator understands to be its role:

"I think that being a coordinator is being an articulator, being a facilitator of the pedagogical actions of the school [...]. So the coordinator is a facilitator, they articulate the actions so that learning happens." (Emerald Coordinator)

"Another function that I think to be fundamental to coordinate, would be the professional development of teachers" (Diamond Coordinator)

"[...] I think the coordinator has to act in the continuous development of the teacher." (Ruby Coordinator)

From what they verbalize, the coordinators recognize part of what we understand to be their professional knowledge about the role they play, which implies three fundamental aspects. For them, being a pedagogic coordinator is to be a facilitator, an articulator and a teacher mentor.

By recognizing themselves as facilitators of the teaching and learning process, the coordinators detail the professional knowledge mobilized in their doing in the schools where they work. They reveal what Domingues (2009) says about the consolidation of this professional's work over the years, which has ceased to be a fiscal of pedagogical work, to be the one of which the teacher, and the school community can count on, to develop pedagogical practices.

However, when devoting time to the development of actions to facilitate work at school, the coordinator ceases to allocate "time of his work at school for the development of pedagogical actions planned intentionally in view of teacher education." (CAMPOS and ARAGÃO, 2012, p. 38), the priority role of this professional.

The concern we present now stems from the reflection on the immediate performance of this professional in many of the activities it develops, especially regarding the offer of materials and support to the teacher, which can have little impact on the reflection on the practice and the consequent change in teaching, the consolidation of the role of teacher trainer and the legitimation of his position in the network where he operates.

On the emphasis given to the role of "articulator", we understand that these professionals recognize that this is an end-oriented role, such as the consolidation of the Political Pedagogical Project (PPP) of the school units where they operate.

For André e Vieira (2012, p. 23):

Having clarity of the role of articulator of the pedagogical political project of the school, in a continuous process of teaching development, is of fundamental importance so that the coordinator does not get lost in emergencies and routines of the school day- to day.

The role of articulator, in this case, goes beyond acting in the service of the fulfillment of the actions planned by the school community and revealed in the PPP of the school unit. In fact, the awareness of this role allows these professionals to define, even, which subjects of the school should be involved in the processes they develop and at what moments, though, being an articulator does not mean articulating projects only, but also articulating people and educational processes.

Another understanding of their role concerns the role of coordinators as teacher mentor. On this, Placco (2012, p. 57) reaffirms that "a fundamental function of the Pedagogical Coordinator is to take care of the qualification and professional development of teachers". This expectation, as we have seen, is explicitly verbalized by the coordinators, who indicate that they have clarity about this role, thus revealing their teaching professional knowledge.

In these interviews, when sharing practices they develop, the coordinators reveal non-verbalized knowledge, explicitly, when questioned. In these actions, they also reveal knowledge whose source is in tune with what Schulman (2005) calls wisdom derived from the practice itself. Although they do not explain "how they act" and "why" they act in a given way, we infer that the strategies adopted by the coordinators are configured as a basic principle in their work. In their statements, the coordinators reveal that they anchor their knowledge in dialogical investment , as can be seen in the following excerpts:

[...] you have to sit and listen, teachers difficulties between teachers, teachers with students, teachers with family. (Diamond Coordinator)

[...] There's a need that teachers have very strong here, to be heard. Because the teacher on the Net is not heard. (Amber Coordinator)

[...] to form is not to go out front and talk, talk, talk, talk. It is you proposing a reflection and letting people to talk. (Ágata Coordinator)

I can't stop talking to the teacher, or feel uncomfortable about it. It's something I need to cultivate always and always in learning. (Ruby Coordinator)

The statements presented indicate the concern of the pedagogic coordinator of the network investigated in establishing dialogical relationships with the people inserted in the school routine, thus revealing a professional teaching knowledge. Their sayings indicate that these professionals understand that "the pedagogical coordinator needs to know and value the plot of interpersonal relationships in which it, the coordinator, and the teachers interact" (ALMEIDA, 2001, p. 70), which justifies the promotion of dialogue not only with teachers, but also with students, family members and the entire school team, activity reported by the Diamond Coordinator.

By building a dialogical relationship with teachers, the pedagogic coordinator has the opportunity to establish, with them, a formative path based on shared decisions and concrete information, or rather, on explicit development needs of the teacher.

In view of the above, we have identified that investing in dialogue is truly a teaching knowledge of the pedagogic coordinator.

We believe that acting in a way, the coordinator allows the teacher to be involved in the formative processes in which he participates, while having the opportunity to see his difficulties and longings being contemplated in learning situations, thus assuming an active role in his professional development and, at the same time, distanced himself from the role of "a mere instrument in the hands of others" (IMBERNÓN, 2010, p. 78).

Another knowledge identified in the practices reported by the coordinators deals with the establishment of partnerships aiming to build the sense of collectivity in school. The construction of a work based on the collective, is confined to Imbernón (2010, p. 64), for whom "teaching has become a collective work necessary and indispensable to improve the work process of teachers, the organization of educational institutions and the learning of students".

This aspect is a chorus in the statements of three coordinators, who legitimize in their practice elements of the collective, especially when they seek partnerships that collaborate with the training of teachers and with the teaching and learning process. Note below:

[...] we identify together with the school counselor, the needs that are happening at that moment that we are observing, and we seek for theoretical subsidies to work with them. (Emerald Coordinator)

The statute of the school cannot be split between administrative and pedagogical. (Amber Coordinator)

So when he was developing, I said, I never touched a microscope. Can I participate? I participated together. Then I moved, learning to move too. From this process I understood that we had to walk together to do a workshop. That it wouldn't make sense for me to pick it up and talk about it or just, theoretically. (Ruby Coordinator)

In their placements, the participants indicate that acting in the construction of partnerships with teachers, principals and other subjects of the school community is one of the roles they assume, so that we infer that this is a professional knowledge not explicitly verbalized by the coordinators when questioned.

We understand that the feeling of collectivity/partnership is built to the extent that the work of the coordinators tends to strengthen the relations between all those involved with the school and with the teaching-learning process, thus expanding the impact of their actions, which will no longer be aimed at the school and its processes, but rather to the places, parents, students and the community around them.

In addition, in the practices reported, the coordinators also demonstrate that, to perform their roles, it is necessary to know where they are (institution, their role within this institution, and if it is part of another institution/chain) which, for us, we infer to configure one of the coordinator's teaching knowledge.

Such knowledge is detailed in their statements, especially when they approach the search for information about the school, students, the institution where they work and the community where the school is inserted, as can be observed below:

I also have to think that I am inside of an institution, and that it is part of a chain [...] to know the pedagogical work within the school to be able to do the development and accompaniment. (Amber Coordinator)

[...] we need to have the understanding about the place we are part of, the community that we are immersed in, to know the community, to know the families, to know the students. (Ruby Coordinator)

The actions reported by Amber and Ruby are important for the construction of the school diagnosis, and, in addition, it is a fundamental element for the regulation of the coordinator's work, influencing, to a large extent, the performance of this development facilitator.

According to Mizukami (2004), knowing the educational contexts and their purposes is part of a set of knowledge that make up the general pedagogical knowledge base for teaching, which involves knowledge about the space of action and about all the subjects that make up such a space.

In view of the above, we recognize that knowing the school, in order to better understand the social context in which it is included, is a knowledge not verbalized by the coordinators. We also understand that such knowledge is one of the moderators of the practice of the participants of this investigation, that is, even if this action is not verbalized when they declare the roles they recognize, the coordinators reveal the importance of knowing the school from different scales, contexts and points of view to define their way of acting and establish the formative priorities to be treated.

The knowledge that permeates the formative practices of the pedagogic coordinator

The formative practices developed by the pedagogic coordinator who collaborators of the research that work in the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP that we portray here, relate to the hours destined to the collective and individual formations provided for in the teacher's work day, provided for in Complementary Municipal Law No. 2,524 of April 5, 2012.

The actions reported by Esmeralda, Amber and Ágata reveal the use of formative strategies that meet the formative needs identified in the school and in favor of learning of all, attributing to the school, the locus character of the formations offered, that is, the starting point for the actions reported below:

[...] we made several discussions about the teaching of mathematics as it has to happen, in practice, and then we enter the classroom. (Emerald Coordinator)

I used a moment of planning, I set up a presentation for them with slides in PowerPoint, I passed them all the concepts, I explained how to assemble the spreadsheet. (Amber Coordinator)

And then , we went through the questions so they could tell me how hard it was to answer that question. (...) So, what difficulties and facilities did you notice (in the child) to answer this question? (...) So what does that mean? (...) What does it mean that she made a take away account, and not an addition account? (Ágata Coordinator)

In the placements presented, the coordinators report formative practices that help identify their knowledge, among which we can highlight that they conceive the use of information about "real" teaching practices and the use of teachers' and school problems as objects of analysis in the formations, to problematize and re-signify teaching practices.

The formative practices show knowledge about the importance of, in a school-centered education, "instigating the knowledge that teachers master and intervening to re-organize such knowledge, raising them to other levels" (PLACCO and SOUZA, 2012, p. 51).

The reports demonstrate the concern of the coordinators, teacher mentors, in selecting and planning strategies that help the teacher to reflect and elucidate their actions, recognizing the concepts that sustain them, so that they can "examine their implicit theories, their schemes of operation, their attitudes, etc., firmly establishing a constant process of self-assessment of what is done and why it is done" (IMBERNÓN, 2010, p. 47).

In another measurement, the coordinators portray the difficulties faced to play the role of teacher development facilitator in the municipal public network, as observed in the statements of three coordinators:

They [the Department of Education] have another format, I mean it's something that disorganizes everything (...). It wasn't in line with what I was working on. (Amber Coordinator)

(...) we must be cohesive, to do something in group, at least one network format, and then it can be specific to each school, what it will be done. (Amber Coordinator)

Sometimes you need to talk about recess, about timing, about this, about that, tough it is a space which is less pedagogical and more administrative in general. (Ruby Coordinator)

[...] the fact that the teacher does not have time to be collectively in school with his peers hinders development. (Diamond Coordinator)

In these sayings, the coordinators demonstrate knowledge about the variables that impact the performance as a teaching mentor and portray difficulties associated with the organizational structure of the investigated network, especially regarding the establishment of time allocation for collective meetings at school, the inappropriate use of the time dedicated to development, the lack of common parameters of action in school units, the inappropriate use of the resources provided by the network and, the lack of articulation between local formative processes (which occur in school) and broader institutional formative processes.

The statements indicate that the coordinators recognize that the non-promotion of collective spaces for learning, negatively impact the development of their assignment as a mentor, thus evidencing a significant professional knowledge.

Through their statements, we can infer that these professionals understand that "teachers who reflect together with their peers in schools help the school itself (understood as a group of people with common educational objectives) to reflect on themselves and change" (TANCREDI, 2009, p. 19).

However, in practice, the coordinators find it difficult to effect their role as a teacher mentor. This finding demonstrates that there is a contradiction between the attributions of the position, the practices reported by the coordinators and the organizational structure offered by the investigated network.

The formation of the mentor: what do pedagogic coordinator know about it?

To deal with the diversity of their universe of activity and adjust their knowledge to those experienced in schools, the coordinators live with the latent need to reconstruct their knowledge and actions and with the desire to legitimize one of the recognized attributions: the teacher mentor, a function they share with the other managers of the educational institution where they work. On the need for development, four coordinators state:

I had difficulty with literacy because I was a biology teacher, so I went to take a distance course on literacy and literacy practices, precisely to understand what was happening in school. (Emerald Coordinator)

We had to set up a study group outside of working hours to start thinking about it. (Amber Coordinator)

Personally, I invest in education, for example, I'm doing an MBA in School Management [Master in Business Administration], which I thought would be interesting. (Amber Coordinator)

I keep participating in the research group. The Group Biennial Meeting took place at the University of Campinas - UNICAMP recently and I was present. I'm trying to foster research. (Ruby Coordinator)

The statements reveal that the coordinators invest, by themselves in their development (self-education), sometimes in specialization courses, sometimes in maintaining contact with universities, in individualized studies, in study groups and, also, in participation in academic-scientific events. In addition, they demonstrate willingness to participate in the development opportunities offered by the educational institution where they work for, and, in other situations, seeking to legitimize space and time to develop professionally from the principle of school-centered training.

The initiative to establish a study group, expressed in their statements, reveals the perception of the coordinators about the importance of building a space for exchanges between professionals who work in the same professional activity, thus enabling access to new knowledge and the review of knowledge that subsidizes their activities.

We recognize this initiative as a potentiator of the learning of trainers, since it allows them to define their own learning objectives and the objects of analysis, derived from their practice, which can be used and themed in the moments of encounter of knowledge and experiences. This experience effectively allows the coordinators to take the place of subjects of the formative processes in which they participate.

However, it is worth mentioning that the development of the mentor is a responsibility that should be shared with the educational institution, though, it should also be responsibility of the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto to establish public policies that guarantee institutional conditions that favor the professional development of the coordinators, and therefore, not only individualized actions for this purpose.

Creating institutional conditions favorable to the development of the mentor, and allocating time for the training and development of the mentor in its weekly work routine, are examples of actions that enable the development of the coordinator in service, and it is therefore up to the said network to establish programs that ensure the development of the mentor.

The coordinators indicate that the network invests in their development, however, highlight the disarticulation and lack of planning of it, as we can observe below:

[...] We took some training that talk about some projects, that are thrown into the network (...) the formation of the project without bees [for example], which is a project that the children of the 3rd and 4th year of elementary school are participating, we did. Actually, it is a formation of the information. About how the project will be, how it will be worked... (Diamond)

What exists [of training], sometimes appears like this, and appears in the sense of appearing even, magically. (Amber)

You go to the meeting and they (Department of Education) talk: we have partnered with the Foundation X, and then they are offering training on classroom management, or about anything. (Amber)

In their statements, four coordinators reveal that there is the establishment of partnerships between the education network and private institutions, that there is no frequency of institutional qualifications, they cannot see that there is a plan of a training path in place for the coordinators and, notably, that the formations are decontextualized. Their indications show the disarticulation between the training offered and the training needs of the coordinators, which lead us to question the pertinence of these training offers in the view of the needs of these professionals.

In addition, we indicate the need to re-think the formative actions for the coordinators, making them more coherent with their attributions and with the challenges faced by these professionals in their spaces of action, and, moreover, their impact on the legitimation of the professional role in the school and attribute to them the place of the subjects in the training process of which they are part.

Between beads, threads, and beautiful necklace: final considerations

This article aimed to analyze the knowledge identified in an investigation with pedagogical coordinators working in the municipal public network of Ribeirão Preto - SP and discuss them in the light of the theoretical framework of the educational area.

We assume that, although they do not act directly in the teaching-learning process, the coordinators, based on their academic background and their professional history, are teachers endowed with a set of knowledge, of different natures, which complement each other.

When asked, the coordinators explicitly verbalized, in a non-hierarchical way, that being "facilitators", "articulators" and "teacher mentors" are part of their professional role.

In addition to these, they manifest that investing in dialogue, building partnerships and being aware of "where you are" is a legitimate knowledge in their doings, even if they are not explicitly verbalized when questioned.

By sharing the formative practices being developed, the coordinators reveal knowledge about the importance of developing a school-centered training and development, so that it can assume a central role in the construction of contextualized paths, consistent with the reality experienced in this space. And, at the same time, they demonstrate to know what are the obstacles to the implementation of the assignment of teacher mentoring: the consolidation of space and time allocation for teacher training and development in school units, the absence of specialist teachers in the "few" development moments of the school, the number of coordinators in school units with a high number of students and teachers and the disarticulation between the intra and extraschool development processes, promoted by the Municipal Department of Education of Ribeirão Preto - SP.

To deal with the complexity they are in schools and the consequent mutation of their own knowledge in the exercise of their roles, the coordinators recognize the relevance of the investment in the training and development of the mentor, which address specific knowledge for the exercise of pedagogical coordination.

They complain, in their statements, for institutional spaces where the coordinators can meet to exchange experiences, share successful practices and discuss the problematic situations of the school units where they work.

Despite the offer of institutional development opportunities, the institutions are unaware of their reality and, at the same time, do not value the construction of dialogical formative paths, which involve them as subjects, from the definition of themes, planning and development of formative meetings.

In view of what we presented in this article, we end with some concerns: why do we still come across so many "threads" of teaching knowledge hidden among the beads? Why are there few knowledge of teaching professionalism, understood as such, to the point of being verbalized? And what should be done to legitimize the professionalism of the teacher-teacher, who is the pedagogic coordinator of the many educational institutions in our country?

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1English version by Camila Vieira de Souza Santos. Email: mila.camila33@gmail.com.

5Mia Couto is the pseudonym of Antonio Emilio Leite Couto. Born in Beira, Mozambique, on July 5, 1955. Writer, poet and journalist, besides biologist, is considered one of the great writers.

6To learn more, go to Complementary Law No. 2,524/12, which deals with the Statute of the Magisterium, Position, Municipal Department of Education, Remuneration, Career. Disponível in: http://www.ribeiraopreto.sp.gov.br/J321/pesquisa.xhtml?lei=34102. Access on 10/12/2020.

7A Knowledge base for teaching "consists of a body of understandings, knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary for the teacher to provide teaching and learning processes, in different areas of conheimcn eto, levels, contexts and modalities of teaching" (MIZUKAMI, 2004). Despite not acting directly in the teaching process, we consider the coordinator a teacher who works in other dimensions of the educational process, such as, in this case, in management positions, which require from it, a set of specific teaching knowledge, such as those indicated by Shulman (2005).

8On date of data collection, the municipal public education network of the municipality of Ribeirão Preto - SP had 31 pedagogical coordinators working in Infatil Education, Elementary School and Youth and Adult Education, who were invited via institutional e-mail to participate in the investigation. Of this total, five coordinators expressed interest in participating.

Received: September 01, 2021; Accepted: February 01, 2022

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