Maria Fourpome Brando_ISCAR_school

Maria Fourpome Brando

E-mail: maria.brando@gmail.com

The title of speech for school:

The meaning assigned by teachers to their teaching: expanding the possibilities of performance through observation and discussion the teaching activity

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My name is Maria Fourpome Brando, a 30 years old, Brazilian female. I am in the middle of my doctorate in the department of Educational Psychology, at Pontificia Universidade Católica of São Paulo. My advisor is Dr. Claudia Davis. I have a scholarship from the Brazilian government. At the present moment, I’m doing the review of the literature in order to be able to better define my research problem. In a general view, I am interested in discussing teacher’s Activity, more specifically, the senses and meanings they give to their professional practice. The research’s theoretical framework is the cultural-historic perspective in Psychology. I will be employing, more specifically, the categories of Activity; Conscience; Thought and Language; Sense and Meaning; and also Subjectivity.

The ISCAR Summer School seems to be a great opportunity to share different interpretations of Cultural and Historic Theory, especially in what concerns the relationship between sense and meaning and ways through which personal interpretation of the former promotes transformations in the latter. I am also interested in discussing the role of mediation in this process as well as the very nature of physical and symbolic tools. Presently, as I am studying the Actor-Network theory, my tendency is to understand that, as Bruno Latour postulated, that they both share the same social nature and in this respect, their distinction is not so clear.
In methodological terms, I am planning to employ some of the Activity’s Clinic procedures, proposed initially by Yves Clot, a French research linked to ergonomic tradition. In my research, however, those procedures will undergo a substantial alteration in order to better fit Brazilian context. Another aspect that I am interested to talk about is how to proceed when collecting data related to the senses and meanings a subject constructed about a given event and, also, the role of the researcher and of his instruments when working in a qualitative paradigm. Finally, I am expecting to be able to exchange literature information, a central point when we are so far away of the northern discussions.

For sure, I will love to know Finland. This is not, though, my main reason to postulate a place in the ISCAR Summer School. IN fact, if I am accepted, this will be my first participation in an international meeting, something very special just because so full of challenges. It is nice to be able to test our limits and to face new cultures and their various points of view. To express myself in English is, for me, a big task, but I am confident that, if my colleagues have some patience, I will overcome this problem easily.

Selected publications:

  1. Brando, M.F. (2002) Oficinas de Direitos Humanos. In: VI Encontro de Psicologia Social Comunitária – Transformaçao: para que? para quem? (pp.44). Bauru: Universidade Estadual Paulista.
  2. Brando, M. F; Facco, M.A. (2006) Impedimentos Subjetivos na Atividade do professor em aulas de Orientação Sexual. In: IV Mostra de Pesquisa em Educação. (pp. 87). São Paulo: Artcolor Ltda.
  3. Brando, M. F; Facco, M.A. (2006) Educação Inclusiva: um estudo sobre atividade docente. In: IV Mostra de Pesquisa em Educação. (pp. 88). São Paulo: Artcolor Ltda.

Maria Fourpome Brando “The meaning assigned by teachers to their teaching: expanding the possibilities of performance through observation and discussion the teaching activity”