A codocência como prática colaborativa projetada para integração e cocriação entre educadores/as na educação bilíngue

Abstract

Based on the great expansion of bilingual schools in Brazil and, highlighting that the development of an additional language today is no longer seen as an autonomous discipline but rather as a practice situated in the authentic context of the classroom, taking into account diversity and cultural plurality within the school environment, integrating language and content, classroom management is questioned in this multifaceted context in the presence of a single teacher. Thus, the research proposal defended here aims to explore new possibilities for organizing co-teaching, characterized here as two teachers working simultaneously in the same classroom, in a bilingual context, interacting in two different languages, within bilingual schools and/or with a bilingual curriculum program, in order to advocate how the spaces of action and the different roles of these teachers in classroom management are constituted, highlighting how the different languages are used in these interactions. The essential data for this research are qualitative and ethnographic in nature and were generated from the analysis of pedagogical plans, the application of individual questionnaires and the holding of a focus group with a speculative character. The research revealed the participants' understanding of co-teaching as the presence of more than one teacher in the classroom, without each of them necessarily having a defined role. The co-teaching practice stood out as a resource for compensating the demands of time and logistics of the institution. Regarding the use of two different languages in a shared space, it was clear that the teachers understood that, in order to be a genuinely bilingual teacher, one must have knowledge and proficiency in the additional language. The results show numerous benefits of co-teaching for the students, especially better use of the class, greater attention and understanding of the content, and a safer environment for using the additional language. For the teachers, the best use of time, the exchange of experiences, interdisciplinarity, better interaction between teachers, and greater interest in bilingual education at school stood out. For the students, almost no challenges were pointed out; and for the teachers, the greatest challenges of the practice were the need for more time and/or better organization of integrated planning, clarification on the definition of the new roles of teachers in the collaborative classroom, and the lack of opportunities to approach colleagues to establish bonds. According to these benefits and challenges identified by the research participants, incipient guides for co-teaching were provided and a continuum was developed, with the intention of promoting a more in-depth reflection on the breadth of possibilities regarding this educational model. This research is organized into five chapters, the first of which is an introduction to the bi/multilingual education scenario in Brazil and a reflection on the plural ways of learning of 21st century students, followed by the chapter on theoretical assumptions, research methodology, analysis and discussion of data, ending with final considerations with a view to reviewing current and updated teaching perspectives, taking into account cultural diversity and plurality within the school environment.