The meanings of learning for early childhood education, elementary and high school teachers

Abstract

Objective: This study now presented had the intention to comprehend the meaning teachers attribute to school learning. Methods: We adopted as theoretical and methodological support the assumptions of Cultural­historical Psychology, with emphasis on the concept of Vygotsky about development and learning. The investigation had as subjects eleven teachers from two public schools of an inner city of São Paulo, being one of early childhood education and another of elementary and secondary education. The instrument used for data collection was semi­structured interviews. Results: The results indicate that the meanings of learning configure based on misunderstanding of the learning process and by the belief that the different rhythms and forms of the students to get involved with learning constitutes as learning problems that can be solved by medical treatment and not by the establishment of more effective teaching practices based on comprehending of how the process of development and learning of children and young people.