“Trying to untie the knots”: the meanings of monograph project writing in initial teacher education

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the meanings attributed by Pedagogy students to the writing process of the monograph project as part of the mandatory activities for the conclusion of the course. The research is characterized as a case study, of a qualitative nature, and the data analysis is based on the methodological perspective nuclei of meaning (Aguiar; Soares; Machado, 2015; Aguiar; Ozella, 2013). It starts with the data collected through questionnaires applied to students at the beginning and at the end of the Monograph discipline and from the analysis of an evaluative activity carried out with these same students also at the end of the discipline. These data were collected in two academic semesters, 2020.2 and 2021.1. Data were organized into two nuclei of meaning: 1. “I don't feel ready to write the project […]”; and 2. “[…] the readings, the study and the research confront me, and make me leave the place...”. Data analysis allowed tracing the profile of these students and identifying the many meanings of writing in the monograph project, as well as the challenges, difficulties, and learnings in this training path. The writing of the project as a process that brings up the reflection on research and writing linked to the formation and constitution of teaching knowledge. The diversity of meanings attributed reflects the singularities of the formative paths taken by these students throughout the course.