Formação Inicial de Professores Para o Ensino da Ciência Físico-Naturais No 3º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, no Currículo Vigente - Um Contributo para a Qualidade do Ensino de Ciências em Timor-Leste

INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING FOR PHYSICAL-NATURAL SCIENCE TEACHING IN THE 3rd OF BASIC SCHOOL - A Contribution to the Quality of Science Teaching in Timor-Leste
Teacher training is a fundamental dimension for the quality of the teaching and learning process. It is around this statement that we address in this text, in the context of East-Timor, the policy of curriculum reform of the 3rd cycle of basic education, which, in 2011, redefines the national curriculum plan, which includes the subject of Physical and Natural Sciences, in an individual regime and organized into four different areas of knowledge: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Geology.
The study question is expressed by this question: What new challenges do higher education institutions face in the training of teachers in this subject? The study aims to characterize the institutional reality of initial teacher training in Timor-Leste and analyze the curricular organization, in general, and the subject of Physical-Natural Science, particularly the real context of 3rd cycle basic schools.
It is an exploratory study, qualitative in nature, using semi-structured interviews as a technique for data collection and content analysis as a technique for data analysis. For this purpose, involved 8 directors of IES departments and 5 trainer teachers.
In terms of results, it was concluded that the initial training that has been provided does not meet the expected requirements, especially at the level of the Physical-Natural Science subject, in which the training of students should cover four interrelated domains. The data allow us to say that there is an evident absence in the initial training course of the field of geology. The function of this subject does not meet the expectations of comprehensive science training in basic education. At the same time, teachers say they feel insecure in the curricular approach to this subject, whose contribution to the education of students is essential. Some implications of these results are presented, and suggestions for improvement are made.