Teachers’ Education and Social Imaginary

Abstract

This paper focuses on English language Brazilian teachers’ in service education who participated in a program in the United States of America from 2010 to 2013. The main objective is to present and discuss how a certain social imaginary underpins the so-called teaching vocation and teachers’ aspirations. It is a qualitative case study, and it has as theoretical basis the concept of social imaginary, and the decolonialist perspective. The methodology consisted of literature research, analyses of participants’ curriculum vitae published on the Lattes Plataform/CNPq, online questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and statements. Amongst the main findings we name the fact that this imaginary hides the reasons that put the quality of public education at stake.

Keywords social imaginary; in-service English teachers’ education; decolonialism