INQUIRY-BASED TEACHING: TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ITS PRACTICES

This study sought to identify the perceptions of three teachers from the initial years of elementary education regarding their pedagogical practices of inquiry-based teaching, which was proposed to them in a situation of continuous formation. Data were collected through a questionnaire and interpreted from an instrument called 3x3 Matrix to ascertain their perceptions. Drawing from the results of content analysis and the nine cells of the Matrix by a priori categories, this study concluded that: majority of the manifestations of the teachers' speech concentrated on the epistemic dimension regarding the type of teaching they practiced; in a secondary highlight, they also related to the epistemic dimension regarding the students' learning; regarding the personal dimension (their tastes or appreciations), there was only one manifestation; and finally, regarding the social dimension, five highlights were identified, and four of them related to the valorization of the teaching practiced by the teachers and one focused on student learning. The reflections revolved around the epistemic dimension, which leads us to highlight the need for intensification of the continuing formative processes so that teachers can reflect more on the personal and social aspects of teaching by research.