Concepções e práticas de ensino de geografia no Paraguai: uma análise a partir de Pedro Juan Caballero

Abstract

The main purpose of this present work was to identify and analyse the characteristics of Geography teaching in Paraguay, using the city of Pedro Juan Caballero as a reference. There are not enough bibliographic materials about the presented topic due to the fact that there are not licentiated Geography teachers in Paraguay and also because this subject is taught with History. The teachers who are in charge of Geography classes are majored in Pedagogy with emphasis in Social Science. The methodology used for the development of this work involved as a first step a bibliographic review about the topic was made; afterwards, visits and personal contacts were made to all educational institutions in Pedro Juan Caballero with the main purpose to obtain information about the public teaching service in Paraguay, scholar structure organization and curricula to guide the educational system at public schools. To investigate, we created scripts for semi structured interviews with principals, pedagogical coordinators and Geography teachers who work at public schools in Pedro Juan Caballero. This, lots of visits were made in Pedro Juan Caballero schools to interview the principals, coordinators and teachers. We also made a study and an analysis of books used by the Geography teachers and attended some classes of the subject. Studying the facts we could verify that the Geography meanwhile as subject in Paraguay qualifies and fulfills the main function of localization of facts and moments, complementing to the contents of the other subjects, especially of the History. Through this, prioritizes the description and location of facts and geographical moments on earth´s surface, which limits its contributions for a better comprehension of the reality lived by students.