4.1 Reflections on the internship in the construction of the teaching professional identity

Identity can be understood as movement, as a dynamic and changeable construction process carried out by historical subjects. When we establish the relationship of this understanding with the movement that took place during teacher education, in which the constitution of the professional teacher identity is enriched, we can witness the dialogue between subject and context, based on the social meaning of the profession (^{PIMENTA, 2005}), and also the construction of different ways of experiencing the profession (^{NÓVOA, 1992}).

Based on the reflections on the inseparable relationships between the individual, the context, and the professional collective in the process of building a teacher's identity, we understand that it is necessary to critically read the theoretical and practical elements present in training and professional teaching practice.

According to ^{Nóvoa (2017}, p. 1116):

Training should work alternately, with moments of strong theoretical bias in the disciplines and sciences of education, followed by moments of work in schools, during which new problems arise to be studied through reflection and research.

^{Pimenta and Lima (2017}) discuss the internship as the central axis of teacher education, which can help to build a professional identity, by allowing contact with the social reality, the field of teaching activity. In this approach, it's possible to identify the complexity of the practices that professionals who work in it develop, as well as the recognition of the training demands necessary for professional experience in this context.

In critical defense of this curricular component and its contributions to the identity construction of teachers, the authors defend the internship as research and research as an internship to overcome the reductionist view of this as the time of practice, point to the need for:

[...] Develop activities that enable knowledge, analysis, reflection on teaching work, teaching actions, in institutions, to understand them in their historicity, identify their results, the impasses they present, the difficulties [...]. (^{PIMENTA; LIMA, 2017}, p. 20).

Regarding the postgraduate internship, according to the reflections of ^{Costa (2014}), it's possible to highlight that, legally, there are possibilities for its contribution to the training of teachers to work in Higher Education, pointing out to the forms of organization of institutions, its conception in the political-pedagogical project, so that this process allows a movement of critical approximation of graduate students with the exercise of university teaching.

Another point to be considered is how different subjects perceive the formative role of internships:

We know that the Internship is a space for research, formulation of the teaching identity, and pedagogical knowledge. What remains to be discovered is to what extent coordinators, professors, and students of postgraduate courses perceive the formative value of this experience as an opportunity to go beyond monitoring and teaching techniques applied in the classroom? The extent to which this is a space for questioning, investigation, systematization, and production of knowledge, arising from the reflection on the reality of teaching/research at the university. (^{PIMENTA; LIMA, 2017}, p. 70).

The authors' reflections corroborate ^{Costa's observations (2014}, p. 11) about the need to recognize the formative dimension present in the internships so that institutions can advance on different fronts, such as the “[...] valorization of this curricular component, translated into elements such as planning, reflection on practice and responsibility for the process of identity construction of (future) professors".

Taking into account the reflections highlighted by the group of authors who point to the elements present in the internships and their training possibilities, we follow the analysis of the experiences of UECE PPGE graduate students with this component of their training.

5.1 Brief profile of the research subjects

Research participants are in the process of training under the stricto sensu graduate program in Education at UECE. According to the data obtained from the questionnaire, five are female and two male, all enrolled in the masters. All started postgraduate studies in 2019, the same year in which they carried out their teaching internship experiences.

As for the age group, three graduate students are between 20 and 25 years old (MB, MC, and MD), one is between 26 and 30 years old (MG), two are between 31 and 35 years old (ME and MF), and one is over 46 years old (MA).

Concerning initial training, the research subjects come from licentiate and bachelor degrees, most of them from licentiate degrees, courses that professionally qualify for teaching in basic education (BRASIL, 1996). Five graduated in Pedagogy (MA, MB, MC, MD, and MG), one in Physical Education (ME), and one in Music (MF).

As for specializations, four graduate students don't have this degree (MB, MC, MD, and MG). Those who presented the title of specialists graduated in the following courses: Teaching of Mathematics (MA), Psychomotricity (ME), and Scientific Research (MF).

Regarding professional experience in teaching, the subjects indicated experiences in early childhood education, elementary school, and middle school, as follows: MA, nine years in elementary school; MB, one year and six months in early childhood education; MD, one year and four months in early childhood education; ME, two years in elementary school and six months in middle school; MF, one year in middle school; and MG, six years in elementary school.

5.2 Significant and learning-building experiences

From the question “Do you consider that the postgraduate teaching internship contributed to your university teaching-learning process? If so, comment on the experience and the lessons learned”, a classification of the subjects' experiences was carried out; in addition, learning within the scope of teaching in Higher Education was identified, allowing us to perceive the relevance of the internship in the process of construction of the professional identity of post-graduate students.

Concerning the different experiences identified as significant and constituting learning, six participants highlighted an expanded view of teaching in Higher Education, in addition to the opportunity to be protagonists in this process. The following excerpts represent these understandings:

I believe that doing this internship with my supervisor in an Educational Research course was very significant for my process of constituting teaching-learning. [...] I experienced in practice how to help beginning researchers in the elaboration of a research project; I followed their scientific writing process from the beginning; I also had the opportunity to go over these projects, teach workshops, always with a view to the collaborative construction of the research project. (MB).

The teaching internship brought an expanded view of university teaching. My experience was in a freshman course in the Health care area called Education and Health, reflecting on the importance of the partnership between both to promote health practices [...]. (MD).

All my experiences during the internship period were significant, such as weekly trips, closer contact with my advisor, and working in the classroom with people from other backgrounds. As I'm enrolled in a post-graduate program in Education, I consider it extremely important to have been able to better understand the field and professionals of Pedagogy, the science of Education. (MF).

Through the excerpts, it's possible to identify different possibilities of approximation with the reality of Higher Education. Teaching internships promote the approach of graduate students with different contexts and situations, such as knowledge of varied disciplines, areas of knowledge, courses, and subjects, expanding the worldview and understanding of teaching practices.

According to ^{Costa (2018}), for a broad understanding of professors' work, the self-recognition of professionals from different areas as educators is necessary. From this understanding, the importance of comprehending Education as a situated social practice; Pedagogy as the science of Education that collaborates with the critical understanding of training horizons in their different dimensions; and Didactics as part of this science that deals with critical reflection on the mediation between teaching and learning processes. These allow new teachers to problematize their own experiences and permanently re-elaborate them without losing sight of the political and pedagogical commitments.

Another aspect highlighted by the participants concerns the process of organization and development of teaching and learning within the courses. As can be seen in the following excerpts:

The internship made me reflect on how teaching in Higher Education is carried out. The need to know the content and also how to teach from a new perspective, which is adult education. Learning as a student is to understand the role of teaching in this training process, as well as reflecting my practices as a student and teacher in higher education. (MC).

In this experience, I could also learn from the course professor: from planning the discipline together and how to execute the planning as well. (ME).

First, the contact with the preparation of the discipline's syllabus, which aimed to give students training opportunities corresponding to their questions and training needs. Second, the flexibility that we must develop given the students' needs, making the removal or inclusion of new themes to be worked out on in the classroom during the planning of classes. Third, professors must plan their classes well, be aware of the course so it corresponds and contributes to the initial training of professors. Finally, assume the teaching identity coherently and sensitively to the social, cultural, and educational context that students present. (MG).

The learning was about organizing the teaching process and point out that, in addition to knowing the content, the professor is also required to have didactic-pedagogical knowledge and systematization of ways to develop and evaluate planning. As such learning is an important aspect of the teacher's identity. Teaching is a complex, socially produced practice, marked by lived experiences (^{OLIVEIRA; ARAÚJO; SILVA, 2021}) and requires a set of knowledge from teachers, in addition to flexibility in different contexts; a close look at the practice itself and at the way it's developed. Thus, we understand, as mentioned by ^{Pimenta and Anastasiou (2008}), that it isn't enough to master the specific knowledge of each area, it's necessary to know how to teach, an aspect present in didactic and pedagogical knowledge.

5.3 Experiences that hindered the training process

When asked about the difficulties encountered in carrying out the internship, the participants mentioned different aspects related to the mediation of the teaching and learning process, such as the relationship between educator and students; lack of knowledge about teaching and learning processes, and about the subject matter.

The following reports allow us to understand the participants' views on the subject:

The biggest difficulty is to contribute so that students can be studying, looking for solutions, and raising questions about content and professional performance. (MC).

[...] I emphasize the need to have more flexibility with students, as sometimes the lesson planning doesn't work as expected, having to be redone in the course of the lesson. Given this scenario, I ended up being insecure. (MG).

[...] the biggest difficulties were in the contents that, at times, weren't known and specific to the course, requiring a deeper reading. (MD).

Based on the reports of post-graduate students, we would like to reiterate the understanding that conducting the teaching and learning process is a complex action that demands varied knowledge from teachers, among which are specific knowledge in the area, but the mastery of this knowledge isn't enough. The knowledge of experience, in dialogue with the pedagogical knowledge, enables the reflection on the experiences in higher education and the construction of strategies to overcome the different challenges that present themselves in the classroom.

Another element present in the subjects' reports is related to problems in the guidance/supervision process in the internships:

Due to my professor's personal problems, I had to teach classes alone without much prior guidance on what I should do, leaving me insecure in the face of the situation. (MA).

In some moments, I taught the classes alone, without the professor's presence. [...] this was the biggest difficulty, as I usually didn't have time to plan these classes, since the professor told me only one day before. (MB).

The testimonies show the need to recognize the teaching internship as a formative stage, always developed with the presence and guidance of the professor responsible for the course. Destaca-se, assim, a intersubjetividade no processo de aprendizagem dos sujeitos, sendo imprescindível a relação e abertura ao outro (^{THERRIEN; AZEVEDO; LACERDA, 2017}). In this sense, the internship experience can be maximized with supervision, guidance, and reflection (^{LIMA; ANDRADE; COSTA, 2020}). Therefore, for the internship to contribute to building professional identity, learning the knowledge and attitudes necessary for professional insertion (^{PIMENTA; LIMA, 2017}), collaborative and dialogical work between the post-grad student and the professor, who already works teaching in Higher Education, is essential.

Students were also encouraged to respond about their perception of the challenges of being a professor. Their answers pointed to different aspects, which lead us to the complexity of education and teaching, expressed in the training intentions, diversity of thoughts, and elements related to the devaluation of teaching.

The following answers point to the challenges related to the development of training intentions that are embued in higher education. Thus, the role of the teacher regarding the training of people and professionals is in focus. In this sense, the participants also presented their conceptions about training:

[...] Parallel to all this, understand that, just like the Basic Education teacher, they are also responsible for training people, not only for the workforce but also to act critically and actively in society. Understand their responsibility to those under their care in training [...]. (MA).

I believe that, in a teacher training course, the biggest difficulty that professors face is to contribute to professional maturity (especially in my case, who were freshmen students from the Pedagogy course); [...] make them reflect on their own training as well as future work so that the best possible professionals can be trained within a certain historical context. (MC).

[...]Furthermore, teaching classes in Higher Education I always consider a challenge; training teachers, training people is always demanding. (ME).

The training purposes set for professors are infused with objectives linked to the development of science and reflective thinking and the training of new professionals for inclusion in society (BRASIL, 1996). Thus, the subjects' understanding of the challenges experienced by professors who work at this level of education leads us to a reflection on the complex character of teaching and on its political dimension, in which a project of society is present, demanding from this professional a conscious, situated and critical work. Teaching requires taking a position that allows for the realization of the training process in a human and emancipatory perspective of education (^{PIMENTA; LIMA, 2017}).

In addition to the other challenges mentioned, the following can be highlighted: attributions and demands (MA and MD); valorization of education (ME and MF); diversity of thoughts (MB); and flexibility in teaching (MG).

It's a profession that requires a lot of time, as it is full of demands for productivity, sometimes many responsibilities beyond the academic world, and consequently demands to deal with the singularities of the contents of the courses. (MD).

I believe that the biggest challenges for public university professors are the devaluation of education and the lack of investment in undergraduate courses. (MF).

I believe that the biggest challenge is knowing how to deal with the diversity of thoughts and understanding thoughts that diverge from yours. (MB).

The biggest challenge is flexibility [...], as I came to understand that there are needs that arise in the development of the course that needs adjustments. (MG).

Reflecting on the different perceptions of subjects regarding the challenges of the university professor, we can understand that, when experiencing the profession, the internship also allows knowing the challenges and complexity of the practices that are developed and, thus, can provide insertion and collaboration in its process of professional constitution (^{PIMENTA; LIMA, 2017}), which involves, in addition to other aspects, the recognition of the specificities that mark teaching in this teaching context.