For the selection, the two educators from Amazonas prepared a pedagogical intervention project, based on their own professional experiences.

Two English teachers from the Amazonas State Public Network are among 96 teachers from across the country selected to participate in Canada’s Basic Education Teacher Improvement Program. The initiative of the Ministry of Education (MEC) selects teachers from different regions of Brazil to participate and share teaching methodologies and strategies.

Professor Maria Ayane Bastos, from the State Center for Full Time (Ceti) Professor Manuel VF Lima, in the municipality of Coari (363 kilometers from Manaus); and teacher Yeda Oliveira de Souza Carvalho, from Waldocke Fricke de Lyra Public School (CMPM III), in Tarumã, west of Manaus, left for Canada, where they will stay for eight weeks to participate in the program.

Together, between the International Relations Commission (DRI) and the Basic Education Teacher Training Commission (DEB), the initiative is part of the formalized Cooperation Agreement between the Coordination for Professional Development higher education personnel (Capes) and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan).

Educators were selected and became Capes Scholars after enrolling in the Professional Development Program for Basic Education Teachers in Canada Public Notice 31/2019. Divided into phases and regions, educators from all over the country had to develop a pedagogical intervention project based on their own professional experience, which should be put into practice in their respective schools, after their return to Brazil.

“It’s out of the ordinary, it’s really living a dream. I think it’s very important to be here, it’s also a way to motivate my students from the countryside and show them that these places are also for us. That we must dedicate ourselves and make efforts, because we also have these chances of equality through these social programs and to compete in these vacant positions often inaccessible to those who come from the countryside,” explained teacher Maria Ayane Bastos.

The program

With the aim of fostering the training of teachers working in public basic education schools, the Professional Development Program for Basic Education Teachers in Canada lasts eight weeks.

It includes round-trip international airfare, stipend with a scholarship of $2,000 CAD (Canadian dollars), health insurance and basic English lessons, a training course and teaching materials, the accommodation with Canadian families, in addition to thematic modules that deal with student-centered learning. , classroom management, inclusive education and technology in the classroom, as well as participation in virtual forums, group discussions, expert presentations, among others.

The 96 professors were sent to two colleges: Niagara College and Fanshawe College, both located in the province of Ontario, in Toronto.