Interdisciplinarity and Teacher Education: The Teacher’s Training of the Secondary School in Rio de Janeiro—Brazil

Antonio Augusto Fidalgo-Neto, Renato Matos Lopes, José Leopoldo Cerqueira Magalhães, Max Fonseca Pierini, Luiz Anastácio Alves

Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Nuta James Bartlet State High School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2014.54035                

Abstract

This paper investigates the teacher’s perception and knowledge about interdisciplinarity on public secondary school in Rio de Janeiro. Among the participants, 101 teachers completed the questionnaire on the subject investigated. All data about the perceptions of teachers were faced with lesson plans prepared by teachers who reported having strong knowledge on interdisciplinary practice. Our results suggest that there is a lack of support in schools, and competence of teachers to develop interdisciplinary approaches in the classroom. In this context, we suggest the use of methodologies such as Problem-Based Learning in teacher training courses in Brazil, as well as encouraging a continuing education of professionals through postgraduate programs.

Keywords

Interdisciplinarity; Teacher Knowledge; Teacher Education; Brazil

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Alves, N. G., Silva-Filho, M. V. S., & Lopes, R. M. (2009). Interdisciplinaridade no Ensino Técnico: Um Caminho Possível. Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venancio, 3, 179-195.
[2]	Araújo, U. F., & Arantes, V. A. (2009). Comunidade, Conhecimento e Resolucao de Problemas: O Projeto Academico da USP Leste. In U. F. Araújo, & G. Sastre (Eds.), Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas (Vol. 1, pp. 101-121). Sao Paulo: Summus. (Reprinted from: NOT IN FILE)
[3]	Augusto, T. G. S., & Caldeira, A. M. A. (2007). Dificuldades Para a Implantacao de Práticas Interdisciplinares em Escolas Estaduais, Apontadas por Professores da área de Ciencias da Natureza. Investigacoes em Ensino de Ciencias, 12, 139154.
[4]	Augusto, T. G. S., Caldeira, A. M. A., Caluzi, J. J., & Nardi, R. (2004). Interdisciplinaridade: Concepcoes de Professores da área Das Ciencias da Natureza em Formacao em Servico. Ciencia e Educacao, 10, 277-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-73132004000200009
[5]	Azer, S. A. (2009). Problem-Based Learning in the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Grades: Assessment of Students’ Perceptions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 1033-1042. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.03.023
[6]	Bialek, W., & Botstein, D. (2004). Introductory Science and Mathematics Education for 21st-Century Biologists. Science, 303, 788-790. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1095480
[7]	BIE (2008). Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos: Guia Para Professores do Ensino Fundamental e Médio. Rio Grande do Sul Artmed Editora.
[8]	Bordenave, J. D., & Pereira, A. M. (2005). Estratégias de Ensino-Aprendizagem (26th ed.). Petrópolis, RJ: Editora Vozes.
[9]	Brasil (1998). Ministério da Educacao. Parecer do Conselho Nacional de Educacao/Camara de Educacao Básica. Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais Para o Ensino Médio. PARECER CNE/CEB No. 15/1998
[10]	Brewer, G. D. (1999). The Challenges of Interdisciplinarity. Policy Sciences, 32, 327-337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1004706019826
[11]	Chaves, A. S., Filho, C. A. A., Barreto, F. C. S., Velho, G. C. A., Jornada, J. A. H., Bevilacqua, l., Davidovich, L., Nussenzveig, M., & Gattass, R. (2004). In Brazilian Academy of Science, Rio de Janeiro, 1-40.
[12]	Develaki, M. (2008). Social and Ethical Dimension of the Natural Sciences, Complex Problems of the Age, Interdisciplinarity, and the Contribution of Education. Science & Education, 17, 873-888. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9077-7
[13]	Dochy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of Problem-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis. Learning and Instruction, 13, 533-568. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(02)00025-7
[14]	Fazenda, I. C. A. (2002). Interdisciplinaridade: História, Teoria e Pesquisa (10th ed.). Campinas, SP: Papirus Editora.
[15]	Freire, P. (1987). Pedagogia do Oprimido (17th ed.). Sao Paulo: Paz e Terra Press.
[16]	Futrell, M. H. (2010). Transforming Teacher Education to Reform America’s P-20 Education System. Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 432-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022487110375803
[17]	Gatti, B. A., & Barreto, E. S. (2009). Professores do Brasil: Impasses e Desafios (Vol. UNIESCO, pp. 1-294). Brasilia: Organizacao das Nacoes Unidas para a Educacao, a Ciencia e a Cultura (UNESCO).
[18]	Hamburger, E. W., Galembeck, F., Barbosa, J. L. M., Tenenblat, K., Davidovich, L., Beirao, P. S. R. L., & Schwartzman, S. (2007). Ensino de Ciencias e Educacao Básica: Propostas Para um Sistema em Crise (pp. 1-47). Rio de Janeiro: Academia Brasileira de Ciencias.
[19]	Hill, M. M., & Hill, A. (2005). Investigacao por Questionário ( 2nd ed.). Lisboa: Edicoes Sílabo.
[20]	Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16, 235-266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034022.16470.f3
[21]	Klein, J. T. (2006). A platform for a Shared Discourse of Interdisciplinary Education. Journal of Social Science Education, 5, 10-18.
[22]	Koizumi, H. (2004). The Concept of “Developing the Brain”: A New Natural Science for Learning and Education. Brain Development, 26, 434-441. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.braindev.2003.09.011
[23]	Krishnan, A. (2009). Five Strategies for Practising Interdisciplinarity. ESRC National Centre for Research Methods, 1-11.
[24]	Lam, S.-f., Cheng, R. W.-Y., & Choy, H. C. (2010). School Support and Teacher Motivation to Implement Project-Based Learning. Learning and Instruction, 20, 487-497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.07.003
[25]	Lattuca, L. R. (2003). Creating Interdisciplinarity: Grounded Definitions from College and University Faculty. History of Intellectual Culture, 3, 1-20.
[26]	Learning Science Like a Scientist (2006). Nature Chemical Biology, 2, 503-503. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchembio1006-503
[27]	Lopes, R. M., Silva Filho, M. V., Marsden, M., & Alves, N. G. (2011). Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas: Uma Experiencia no Ensino de Química. Quimica Nova, 34, 1275-1280.
[28]	Mamede, S., & Penaforte, J. (2001). Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas: Anatomia de uma Abordagem Educacional (Vol. 1). Fortaleza: Hucitec.
[29]	Mansilla, V. B. (2005). Assessing Student Work at Disciplinary Crossroads. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 37, 14-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/CHNG.37.1.14-21
[30]	MEC (2009). Matriz de Referencia Para o Enem 2009. http://www.enem.inep.gov.br/pdf/Enem2009_matriz.pdf
[31]	Morin, E. (2000). Os Sete Saberes Necessários à Educacao do Futuro Edicoes UNESCO (pp. 1-115). Brasília, DF: UNESCO.
[32]	National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 § 1983 102-105 (1994 May 15, 1969).
[33]	Niemi, H., & Jakku-Sihvonen, R. (2006). In the Front of the Bologna Process: Thirty-Years of Research-Based Teacher Education in Finland. Posodobitev Pedagoskih Studijskih Programov v Mednarodnem Kontekstu: Modernization of Study Programmes in Teachers’ Education in an International Context (pp. 50-69). Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani, Pedagoska Fakulteta.
[34]	Nikitina, S. (2006). Three Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teaching: Contextualizing, Conceptualizing, and Problem Centring. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 38, 251-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220270500422632
[35]	Nissani, M. (1997). Ten Cheers for Interdisciplinarity: The Case for Interdisciplinary Knowledge and Research. The Social Science Journal, 34, 201-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0362-3319(97)90051-3
[36]	O’Neill, J. (2001). Building Better Global Economic BRICs (pp. 1-16). London: Goldman Sachs Economic Research Group.
[37]	OECD (1972). Interdisciplinarity: Problems of Teaching and Research in Universities. Washington, DC: OECD Publications Center.
[38]	OECD (2003). The PISA 2003—Assessment Framework—Mathematics, Reaging, Science and Problem Solving Knowledge and Skills (p. 200). Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
[39]	Perrenoud, P., & Thurler, M. G. (2002). A Formacao dos Professores no Século XXI As Competencias Para Ensinar no Século XXI (pp. 11-33). Porto Alegre: Artmed. (Reprinted from: NOT IN FILE)
[40]	Rikers, R. M. L. P., & Brum, A. B. H. (2006). Introduction to the Special Issue on Innovations in Problem-Based Learning. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 11, 315-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10459-006-9011-9
[41]	Rodríguez, A., Dahlman, C., & Salmi, J. (2008). Knowledge and Innovation for Competitiveness in Brazil. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-7438-2
[42]	Savery, J. (2006). Overview of Problem-Based Learning: Definitions and Distinctions. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1, 9-20.
[43]	Schimidt, E. F. C., Fonseca, P. C., & Alves, L. A. (2005). A Prática da Interdisciplinariedade em Sala de Aula: Um Estudo Exploratório, Utilizando Vírus Como Modelo. Atas do Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Educacao em Ciencias, 20, 12-24.
[44]	Serdyukov, P., & Ryan, M. (2008). Writing Effective Lesson Plans: The 5-Star Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
[45]	Silva-Filho, M. V., Lopes, R. M., Alves, N. G., & Figueiredo, L. M. S. (2010). Como Preparar os Professores da Educacao Básica Para a Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas. http://each.uspnet.usp.br/pbl2010/trabs/trabalhos/TC0145-1.pdf
[46]	Spalding, E. (2002). Of Organelles and Octagons: What Do Preservice Secondary Teachers Learn from Interdisciplinary Teaching? Teaching and Teacher Education ,18, 699-714. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00029-X
[47]	Tadmor, B., & Tidor, B. (2005). Interdisciplinary Research and Education at the Biology-Engineering-Computer Science Interface: A Perspective (Reprinted Article). Drug Discovery Today, 10, 1706-1712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6446(05)03702-5
[48]	Wingreen, N., & Botstein, D. (2006). Back to the Future: Education for Systems-Level Biologists. Nature Review Molecular Cell Biology, 7, 829-832. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrm2023