Abstract

Physical education teaching has swung between the movement that facilitates its professionalisation and the process that proletarises it. Understanding the work of teachers from the standpoint of professionalisation calls, among other things, for the substantiation of the knowledge which can provide the foundations for the profession, in turn requiring new relationships between the academic and educational domains. In this regard, the objective was to investigate the process of constructing the paradigm of the epistemology of the practice of physical education teachers, which would be substantiated by and systematised on the basis of the knowledge that emerges from teaching practice and professional education. To this end, a qualitative approach divided into two stages was chosen. In the first stage, the understanding of practice was analysed from the point of view of seven educators from six Brazilian universities. The data were sent for content analysis using the NVIVO software and were presented in two areas: the main objectives of teaching practice and professional intervention; and the main options for the practice of epistemology in the academic and professional domains. The second stage addressed the professional field, based on three procedures. Initially, a survey was carried out with a sample of 97 teachers to perform a diagnosis of the situation. Six teachers were subsequently chosen for a study of the in-depth stage based on observing lessons, recording actions, using the self-confrontation technique and conducting interviews about their life journeys. The data were then sent to be studied. Analysis of practice seems to be an important strategy for the re-signification of teachers’ actions through reflective processes that can lead to the transformation of the professional habitus and consequently to a substantial change in the way they do things. The main building blocks of the teaching process are to be found in professional practice. As a result, and although many challenges remain, the visions of practice in the professional field of physical education need to be re-signified, as it is important to understand that the knowledge of teachers and professional habitus must be in synch with the movement towards the professionalisation of teaching.