"I DID NOT TAKE AN PEDAGOGY TO CHANGE DIAPERS": professional identity,habitus and the construction of being a teacher in a municipal center for early childhood education
Daycare workers; Teacher identity; Life trajectory; Professional identity.
This research sought to identify identity traits and processes of daycare workers, constituted in
their personal and professional trajectories. Women with experience in day care work, called
educators, teachers, education professionals, day care centers, mediators, and here in this
research also understood as day care workers, given that their role within day care centers is
still recognized, as “common salaried occupation (as workers and employees)” (DUBAR, 1998,
p.7). The interest in the problem arose, through personal experience as a teacher who finds in
the research work a way to problematize the very school practices lived from the experiences
in teaching with children. The frequent inquiries about the social role of education, fostered by
experiences in the field of early childhood education, encouraged me to investigate some
discursive constructions in which, like me, early childhood educators are produced. Starting
from the understanding that the constitution of the teaching identity occurs along the complex
professional path. We take as a hypothesis that the understandings about being a teacher of
early childhood education would be plural and distinct, since we recognize in this work the
subjectivities, memory, contexts of personal and work life, considering this identity not only
professional, but also personal. The objective of the research is to analyze the possible traits
and processes of the identity formation of daycare workers in their life and professional
trajectories. Who are these daycare women? Are there common brands in this category? How
do they perceive themselves as educators? In this sense, we chose to study the trajectories of
three women and teachers who work in early childhood education in municipal centers for early
childhood education in the city of Maceió-AL. We observe, interpret, write, feel, photograph
and speak in a given context. It is from this perspective that we ask ourselves about the identity
processes of daycare workers, constituted in their life and work trajectories, opting for the
methodological approach of Oral History. Open interviews were used, through which the oral
statements of daycare workers were collected and recorded. Oral reports constituted the main
source of research, however documentary sources were consulted, such as official documents.