The relations of the paid non-compulsory internship in early childhood education: employment, work or training?

Abstract

The paid non-compulsory internship is a formative element of the teaching work process, since it gives the student the opportunity to insert himself in the work environment, relating theory and practice.  This study addresses the meaning of the non-compulsory paid internship for trainees: employment, work or training? The objective is to analyze and understand the conception of work and teaching work based on the activities developed in the non-mandatory internship paid by the interns in the Municipal Centers of Early Childhood Education of Francisco Beltrão - PR.  The research is developed based on the critical-dialectical approach and uses as methodological procedures the bibliographic and field research. Data production was performed based on the information provided via the form by the directors or pedagogical coordinators of the CMEIs and by the Municipal Department of Education and questionnaires directed to the trainees. The results indicate that the internship is seen as a job by the trainees closely linked to an employment concept, valuing the factor of remuneration. However, it reveals contradictions since the paid non-compulsory internship, at the same time as it is formative, because of the set of theoretical-methodological knowledge that the pedagogical experience provides is also a means of intensification, deprofessionalization and exploitation of the teaching work.

KEYWORDS: Non-compulsory paid internship; Training; Teaching Work.