Professional development of literacy teachers in the context of reading science
Teacher Training; Cognitive Science; Difficulty in reading development; Diversity, equity and inclusion
Studies show that teacher training based on scientific evidence impacts the theoretical and practical understanding of these professionals. The moments of professional improvement in initial or continuing education enrich the teaching practice by providing contributions that support an effective and structured pedagogical intervention focused on the educational needs of students. Current scientific evidence on literacy, the result of highly methodologically rigorous research in the field of Cognitive Sciences of reading, has helped teachers in the practice of teaching children with persistent difficulties in the development of reading through approaches that consider the effectiveness of explicit and systematized teaching of reading and writing. However, there are few intervention studies with teacher training that address content about the neurobiological process of reading and persistent difficulties in the development of written language, which motivated the application of this study, which aims to identify the knowledge of Brazilian professionals who work in the public education network of municipalities in Rio Grande do Norte on literacy and verify the impact of the Professional Development Program for Literacy Teachers in the Context of the Science of Reading. The study is descriptive of an exploratory nature with data analysis based on the Bardin model. For its design, literature reviews, Likert evaluation questionnaires and intervention with professional training were used. With this, it was possible to identify that the participants did not have confidence in relation to knowledge about evidence-based literacy and about teaching students with persistent difficulties in the development of reading. The research findings support future professional training in evidence-based literacy that supports the strengthening of educational actions aimed at inclusive teaching of reading and writing that meets the educational needs of students who have greater difficulties in the learning process.