Professional Development and Epistemology of Praxis: perspectives for Pedagogical Innovation

Abstract

This article presents the results of research that sought to analyze how the principles of praxis epistemology, applied to the professional development of teachers, can contribute to promoting pedagogical innovation in professional courses. The action research was carried out in the context of an Educational Institution in the South of Brazil that promotes the insertion of young people in situations of social vulnerability into the job market.  Seven teachers who work on professional courses at this institution participated in the training meetings. The analytical structure of the research was constituted from three dimensions: Work; Theory and Practice; and Innovation, which were organizational milestones of the training meetings. Continuing training is conceptualized from the perspective of professional development and the epistemology of praxis as a training perspective for pedagogical innovation. The research shows that the epistemology of praxis overcomes the reductionism between theory and practice and, when the teacher understands this dimension, his professional and personal development reflects his pedagogical actions and his position in the world, which can transform the reality in which he is inserted, In this context, there are possibilities for pedagogical innovation.