Life stories in research on chemistry teachers: a state of the question

General aspects of the mapped studies

The set of studies mapped indicates that chemistry teachers’ life stories have been object of scientific investigation, mostly in the last decade, since a leap is identified from 2020 onwards. Therefore, it is still incipient in the chemical education field, since both this scientific field and the use of life stories in its research are also recent in Brazil, even though they have been raising questions since the 1970s and 1980s (Silva, 2024), regarding the questions and tensions about the knowledge-doing permeating the chemistry teaching activity, mainly because life stories, even if individually narrated, are reports on social practices of certain group (Spindola; Santos, 2003) - in this case, a group of teachers.

Although Figure 1 shows that the first study on this theme dates back to 2007, there are some time gaps, since in nine specific years - 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021 -, no studies related to theme were found, which reveals a scientific production marked by interruptions and a need for broadening and systematizing these studies. The absence of studies in consecutive or spaced periods might compromise the consolidation of this knowledge production in/for/with chemistry education.

Chemistry teachers’ life sotories have been mainly explored in master’s dissertations, since only two theses and two scientific articles were mapped, and both articles originated from the same dissertation (Brito, 2013), which was included in this SQ (Chart 2). This scenario evidences a significant concentration of this approach in master’s dissertations, with few appearances in doctoral theses, thus suggesting that the theme is still predominantly explored at the initial levels of stricto sensu graduate programs. On the other hand, the low number of theses indicates underuse of the potential of life stories as a resource in more complex and broader investigations that could be carried out at the doctoral level in chemistry education.

The absence of greater scientific production derivating from such dissertations - considering that the two articles identified originated from the same dissertation - points out a gap in the dissemination of research results in scientific journals. Therefore, the need for greater motivation is observed so that investigations based on chemistry teachers’ life stories overcome the limits of this level of research and become a more systematic and robust study at the doctoral level, since we understand and defend that by means of these professionals’ life stories “lived experiences are narrated and, therefore, the narratives produced evoke not only the meanings each individual ascribed to the event lived, but also the history of a community, the ideas of a collective - in this case, the collective of educator actors, mainly teachers” (Nacarato ; Passeggi, 2013, p. 290).

The northeastern region is responsible for most of the scientific production included in this SQ (Figure 2), while another part was identified in the southeastern region. No studies were found linked to the other regions of the country. To analyze this geographical distribution, for theses or dissertations, we considered the higher education institution (HEI) to which the graduate program was linked, and regarding articles, the HEI to which the first author of the publication was linked. This data suggests that, although investigations of life stories are widely disseminated in the country, the specific interest in chemistry teachers is restricted to certain places, either due to regional priorities or lack of incentive to approach the theme in other contexts. The broadening of these studies might allow the understanding of the chemistry teacher subject in all their constitutive dimensions, since life stories elect “human experiences as object of study, seeking to give meaning to what was lived and produce broader contextual meanings, since those experiences occur in socially situated contexts rather than in a vacuum” (Silva, 2024, p. 10).

Another relevant characteristic observed refers to the area of concentration of the studies analyzed. For this classification, the areas of concentration linked to each thesis, dissertation, and scientific journal were considered, whose results revealed a predominance of studies related to the area of science teaching, followed by the education area, and we also identified an article published in a journal of the interdisciplinary area (Figure 3). This scenario reflects the historical context of chemistry teachers’ education in Brazil, where the teaching and education fields have played a central role in the qualification of chemical educators at the graduate level, unlike chemistry graduate programs, which traditionally focus on scientific research in the area without being concerned with the challenges of teaching or learning the subject (Silva ; Carneiro, 2022).

In general, the 11 studies addressed chemistry teachers’ life stories in agreement with the view exposed by Passeggi, Souza and Vicentini (2011, p. 370), understanding that they allow researchers:

To identify, in those teachers’ trajectories, relevant issues in education research, which include the reasons for their professional choice, specificities of the different phases in the teaching career, gender relations in the teaching activity, the construction of the teaching identity, and the relations between the education action and education policies.

The data analyzed revealed that despite the advances occurred in the last decade, studies on chemistry teachers’ life stories still face discontinuity and concentration in research at the master’s level, showing the need for greater systematization, geographical expansion, and broader publications, mainly at the doctoral level, to consolidate its contribution to chemical education in Brazil.

Life stories and the academic-professional qualification of chemistry teachers

The first category comprised four studies (Ribeiro, 2007; Machado, 2020; Quimentão, 2020; Leite, 2022), whose scope was the discussion of life stories from personal, academic and professional contributions of chemistry teachers working in basic education or chemistry professors in higher education. Such discussion presents investigative potential because we can hardly interfere in other individuals’ education without understanding our own education process, as put forward by Finger and Nóvoa (2014). Therefore, investigating how teachers constituted themselves professionally is important to know the experiences they had throughout their trajectories and how they reflect on them currently. For Nóvoa (1988, p. 128), these experiences unveil the adult person’s education. In other words, “more important than thinking about educating an adult individual is to reflect on the way the individual is educated, that is, the way they appropriate their life heritage through the dynamics of retrospective understanding”.

Taking that into account, Ribeiro’s (2007) dissertation main aim was to revisit the personal and professional life story of three chemistry teachers who graduated in the chemistry special teaching course at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), to identify their formative, (de)formative, and transforming experiences that permeated their education process and how those subjects integrated their teaching knowledge-doing. The participants had already worked as teachers in basic education, but they entered that course to better master the content in their classrooms. By means of the (auto)biographic method, the researcher used open interviews and the production of written reports to gather data. The life stories were woven in chronological order, from the themes approached by the researcher. The material was analyzed using the categorization process with four categories that permeate themes related to becoming a chemistry teacher: “1. Their first experiences with school life and the path followed to their profession; 2. Their professional trajectory and the workplace; 3. The special teaching course; and 4. The work with their life story” (Ribeiro, 2007, p. 43).

By adopting life stories in the research-education perspective, in dialogue with the discussions proposed by Marie-Christine Josso and Antônio Nóvoa, that study concluded that this reflective work of building up life and education narratives enabled the participants to become more aware of their formative experiences, and allowed them to understand “what they did with the experiences that life provided them with, how they became teachers from those experiences and also to identify the several phases in their career development through their feelings and conceptions expressed in the narratives” (Ribeiro, 2007, p. 98).

Machado’s (2020) dissertation analyzed formative experiences of four students in a chemistry teaching course at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), who take part in the Teaching Initiation Grant Institutional Program (PIBID - Programa Institucional de Bolsa de Iniciação à Docência). Supported by studies reported by Gaston Pineau, Marie-Christine Josso, Christine Delory-Momberger, Maria Izabel Cunha, and Elizeu Clementino Souza, among others. That author adopted the biographical approach and students’ life stories in the research-education perspective for believing that “when the subject organizes their ideas to prepare the report, whether oral or written, they rebuild their experience in a reflective way” (Machado, 2020, p. 85).

The data was generated by means of narrative interviews with the participant students and analyzed using content analysis, thus revealing that the PIBID formative processes were permeated by positive aspects such as the existence of a grant to guarantee their permanence in the chemistry teaching course, and negative ones, such as the tensions when planning actions within the subproject. Although those students’ experience in that program created opportunities to work on their initial education from their own profession, that is, in the theory-practice relationship, some students still saw the teaching activity as a vocational act. However, that author concluded that the program “values the professionals engaged in their own education and those who are entering teaching courses, thus enabling changes in the participants’ postures and conceptions” (Machado, 2020, p. 175).

Quimentão (2020) produced her dissertation aiming to understand how chemistry teachers’ life stories influenced her choices for the teaching profession in that knowledge area. Inspired by the studies put forward by Ivor Goodson about life stories, that author carried out open interviews with three experienced chemistry professors and four undergraduates in a chemistry teaching course who took part in the PIBID and whom she called beginning teachers. The data of the interviews was analyzed as monads, based on the study by the philosopher Walter Benjamin, which understands monads as narrative fragments that gain (new) meaning as they are remembered.

That author realized that “the participants’ narrative portraits [...] evidence how life stories direct the choice for the chemistry teaching career by establishing relationships with family, school, employment, and social justice experiences” (Quimentão, 2020, p. 89). Therefore, chemistry teachers’ life stories reveal the inseparability of the individual and the professional teacher, thus emerging in a narrative that is opposed to curricular requirements and leads to a socially situated practice.

The main aim of Leite’s (2022) thesis was to understand the dialectical relationships of approximation/distancing between education, life, and work of four chemistry teachers working in basic education in Ceará by means of their autobiographical narratives. Following previous studies, that author referred to Josson’s assumptions of research-education aiming at promoting a continuous development space for chemistry teachers, based on the perspective of working towards oneself. The data collected was individual and collective narratives, using pedagogical letter writing (written narratives) and meetings of a Biographical Mediation Reflection Group (oral narratives), respectively.

The biographical mediation was accomplished upon the construction of a horizontal relationship between the researcher and the participant teachers, from the production and discussion of narratives that permeated those teachers’ life, education and professional qualification events. The theoretical base of that study included Francophone, Portuguese and Brazilian authors such as Marie Christine-Josso, António Nóvoa, Mathias Finger, Conceição Passeggi, and Elizeu Clementino de Souza, among others, and the data collected reinforced the understanding that formative proposals that resort to life stories are seen to be promising regarding the insertion of the teacher-subject in the center of the education process, “providing them with autonomy to reflect on themselves, their practice, and the environment where they are inserted” (Leite, 2022, p. 192). That author also concluded that “[...] education, life and work are intrinsically related in the context of each of the teachers involved, thus confirming the understanding that it is not possible to separate teacher’s personal and professional identities” (Leite, 2022, p. 191-192).

The studies analyzed in this category shared the appreciation of life stories as a methodological and formative device, essential for the understanding and improvement of chemistry teachers’ education. They all had in common the emphasis on reflection on personal and professional trajectories as a way to give new meanings to teaching practices, highlighting the inseparability of life (personal aspects) and work (professional aspects). Despite this convergence, the main focus of those works varied since Ribeiro (2007) explored the integration of teaching knowledge by professional teachers, while Machado (2020) investigated the initial education and PIBID challenges, emphasizing the relationship between theory and practice. Quimentão (2020) focused on the influence of lived experiences in the professional choice, associating them with social justice and identity construction, while Leite (2022) deepened the investigation of biographical mediation as a space of continuous education and reflective autonomy. Such approaches indicate that autobiographical narrative places teachers in the center of the formative process, thus promoting self-knowledge, critical awareness and contextualized practices. The studies revealed that understanding and appreciating life stories optimizes teachers’ education and strengthens the connection between chemistry teaching personal and professional knowledge in different contexts.

Life stories and chemistry teachers’ professional identity construction

The second category included five studies (Brito, 2013; Brito; Lima; Lopes, 2014; Brito; Lopes; Lima, 2017; Silva, 2022; Santana, 2023), which addressed chemistry teachers’ professional identity based on their life stories. According to Goodson (2015), experiences lived by the subjects throughout their lives influence directly their identity construction, whether professional or not, and their life stories enable the investigation of how they respond to social and historical changes they are subject to over the period of their lives, because of that life stories have drawn attention when investigating the construction of one’s identity.

Brito’s (2013) dissertation, in turn, sought to understand the process of (re)building the professional identity of chemistry teachers who had graduated in the first class of the chemistry teaching course in a public university in the agreste region of Sergipe. With this purpose, the author selected life stories of seven teachers as the object of study. Such data was generated using interviews guided by a script and analyzed using content analysis.

Theoretically, the dissertation keeps little dialogue with the literature on life stories, mainly with António Nóvoa, while it is mostly supported by authors discussing teachers’ professional identity, especially in the chemistry area. The results pointed out that the professional identity of the participant teachers was marked by a lot of work on teaching activities, research and outreach projects in the chemistry field, which enabled them to reflect on different issues that permeate the teachers’ job. Therefore, Brito (2013) concluded that the different experiences reported by the teachers were equally important to shape their professional identities, thus establishing a positive relationship with them regarding their affirmation in the teaching profession.

The articles by Brito, Lima and Lopes (2014) and Brito, Lopes and Lima (2017) originated from Brito’s (2013) dissertation and were published in co-authorship with her master’s advisors. They sought to understand chemistry teachers’ professional identity construction processes. Since the data of both articles were generated and analyzed in the same way as they were treated in the dissertation referred to in the previous paragraph, we opted for presenting its main results together. The articles are supported by theorists of teachers’ professional identity and chemistry teaching, and the results of both point out that scientific events and activities of teaching, research, and outreach experienced by teachers when they were undergraduates were the main influences in the construction of their professional identities in chemistry teaching.

Regarding Silva’s (2022) dissertation, it sought to understand the interrelations between racial and professional identities of four chemistry teachers, working in basic education in Salvador, two self-declared as black and two as white. A semi-structured script was used to carry out virtual interviews with the teachers, whose data was submitted to deductive thematic analysis aided by the Atlas.ti software. This was the only study employing software to optimize the analyses, although its use is not unusual in narrative research.

The methodological approach of life stories was addressed by Silva (2022) based on Belmira Oliveira Bueno, Franco Ferratorri, and Elizeu Clementino de Souza. That author also referred to Conceição Evaristo to discuss escrevivências (writing/living). His study found out that the crossing between professional and racial identities of chemistry teachers was only shaped after they graduated, since up to that point there were no discussions on racial themes. Furthermore, when black teachers approached their racial identities mirrorred in abebelidade, recognizing their blackness, mainly when the classes do not have a majority of black students, while the white teachers approached their racial identities in the light of the critical whiteness, but at the same time silenced the recognition of the white privilege.

Santana (2023) developed a dissertation aiming to investigate the influence of chemistry teachers’ life stories in the perception and construction of the teachers’ identity of students in a chemistry teaching undergraduate course. Although that author cited António Nóvoa and Marie-Christine Josso in the discussion about life stories, her study does not dialogue deeply with the theoretical-methodological foundation of this approach, thus prioritizing authors that discuss teachers’ identity and chemical education.

The dissertation data was collected from the recording of 20 lessons of a subject that focused on teaching in the chemistry teaching undergraduate course of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), which resulted in 60 hours of audiovisual material. The material was transcribed and analyzed based on the analysis framework strategy. The results showed that “those teachers’ life stories became a bridge between past and future, thus shaping the undergraduates’ identity, inspiring them to be more than competent educators and become passionate defenders of the values they embraced” (Santana, 2023, p. 62). That author also presented an education product with reports on chemistry teachers’ life stories to inspire other teachers to continue teaching.

The studies analyzed contribute significantly to the understanding of the relationship between life stories and the construction of the professional identity of chemistry teachers but also reveal methodological and theoretical differences that deserve attention. In general, all of them recognize the importance of personal and professional experiences in teachers’ education, emphasizing how such experiences shape the chemistry teachers’ trajectories and identities. However, the theoretical-methodological approaches varied, which affects the degree of depth in the use of life stories. Brito (2013) and the articles resulting from her dissertation (Brito et al., 2014, 2017) emphasize the influence of academic activities, such as scientific events and outreach projects in the construction of one’s professional identity. Despite being relevants, those studies were limited in relation to the dialogue with theoretical background of life stories and prioritize authors that discuss teachers’ identity and chemistry teaching. Santana (2023) follows a similar path, which does not deepen theoretical-methodological aspects of life stories, even if she highlights how such narratives inspire beginning teachers.

On the other hand, Silva (2022) integrates life stories in a more robust way, associating them with racial issues and using a diversified reference, including escrevivências and thematic analysis with digital support, which evidences the transforming potential of life stories when well founded. Thus, those studies showed that although life stories are recognized as invaluable in the investigation of teachers’ identity, there are still gaps in the research that could be filled in with greater theoretical-methodological rigor. A deeper dialogue between the theoretical background of life stories and studies on teachers’ identity would broader reflective and interpretive possibilities and strenghten this investigation field.

Reflections on the impacts of life stories on chemistry teaching

The last category gathered two studies (Bonardo, 2010; Silva, 2023) which addressed the impacts of chemistry teachers’ life stories in their teaching practice, that is, in their professional development process, referring to the “continuous and long-lasting Journey through which teachers build their professional identity, changing their work as they reach an understanding of teaching as a critical, political, transforming and reflective activity” (Silva, 2023, p. 129). Considering that, both studies point out that life stories have been used to investigate how chemistry teachers’ professional development has been achieved, mainly because they allow individuals to know themselves better and reflect on their (self)education processes (Couceiro, 2022).

Bonardo’s (2010) dissertation discussed teachers’ professional development with five chemistry teachers in the context of continuous development. The data was collected by recording the lessons of a subject in the graduate course and interviews with teachers. Discursive text analysis was used to analyze the data, supported by António Nóvoa, Gaston Pineau and Pierre Dominicé, among others, to discuss those life stories. That was a multiple case study, and the author verified that the different education and professional experiences lived by each teacher marked their knowledge and doing in teaching, thus echoing in the professional development processes, and making them good teachers.

Finally, the thesis by Silva (2023) investigated the academic-professional career of four renowned university professors in the chemistry teaching area to understand how they have acted in movements defending the quality of chemistry teaching undergraduate courses and how their life stories reflect in their professional development processes. The data was collected by means of document study and narrative interviews with professors working in federal universities in different regions of the country, analyzed using discursive text analysis.

Guided by the studies put forward by António Nóvoa, Marie-Christine Josso, Ivor Goodson, Christine Delory-Momberger, and Maria da Conceição Passeggi, among others, Silva (2023, p. 8) observes that “the narratives found in life stories allowed the educators to reflect upon their academic-professional trajectories until they became prominent Brazilian chemical educators”. She also verified that they developed professionally “employing subversion strategies to oppose the habitus of the Bachelor of Chemistry degree, becoming chemical educators who see the recent education reforms [...] as damaging to chemistry teaching and teachers’ professionalization” (Silva, 2023, p. 8).

The studies by Bonardo (2010) and Silva (2023) emphasize the relevance of life stories to understand the impacts of individual trajectories on the professional development and teaching practices of chemistry teachers. Both agree in evidencing that reflecting upon individual personal and professional experiences promotes continuous self-education, enabling teachers to develop more critical, political and transforming practices, reinforcing the idea that “nobody starts to be an educator on a Tuesday at four in the afternoon. Nobody is born an educator or marked to become one. We make ourselves educators in practice and in the reflection upon our practice ” (Freire, 1991, p. 58).

Despite this convergence, both studies present distinct approaches. Bonardo (2010) focuses on continuous education, showing how the education and professional experiences of teachers shape their knowing-doing, highlighting the role of life stories in the constitution of teachers recognized by the teaching excellence. On the other hand, Silva (2023) broadens the focus to the university context and examines how prominent Brazilian chemical educators face structural challenges, using their own trajectories to resist to the Bachelo of Chemistry degree model an defend education reforms aligned to teachers’ professional education. Such methodological and context differences enrichen the field of studies by demonstrating that although life stories are a common base for reflection and development, their impacts vary according to the education objectives and scenarios, thus confirming the importance of their use in research on teachers’ practice.