Avaliação da aprendizagem e saúde mental docente: os desafios do ensino remoto emergencial na educação sob a ótica de professores de uma escola do sul de Minas Gerais

Abstract

In February 2020, the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in Brazil, which in a short time became a pandemic and devastated several countries. As soon as, schools stopped their face-to-face activities and Emergency Remote Teaching (ERE) was temporarily implemented to ensure the continuity of education, as social distancing was one of the recommended health measures to contain such virus’ spread. Among the various challenges imposed by remote teaching on the educational field, was the assessment of learning, which had to adopt new configurations to occur remotely, demanding a lot from teachers, who were not prepared for virtual teaching, as well as from teachers' mental health, which also was affected by this educational modality, impacting the school organization and teachers’ working conditions. So, this research aimed to understand the challenges that were inside the evaluating learning experienced by teachers in the early years of elementary school during ERE period in a municipal school located in the south of Minas Gerais, as well as to investigate the implications of these remote interventions on such professionals’ mental health. Throughout this research, authors who discuss learning assessment, such as Luckesi (2014), Depresbiteris and Tavares (2017), Hoffmann (2015), Esteban (2013) and Both and Brandalise (2018), as well as Cruz et al. (2010), Esteve (1999), Diehl and Marin (2016), Tostes et al. (2018) and Souza et al. (2021), that address teachers' mental health, among other researchers, who brought important contributions to the development of this study. To achieve such objectives, qualitative research was proposed as a methodology, through a case study that had as participants eleven teachers who taught in the early years of elementary school during the remote period. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and the material obtained in the interviews were submitted to Content Analysis. It is concluded that the greatest difficulty in assessing learning was due to social distancing, as this hindered the return of activities, brought uncertainty about who solved the activities sent to the house, and restricted physical contact with children and families. Regarding the mental health of teachers caused by the remote activities, we saw that the overload and precariousness of work during the pandemic period generated suffering and/or psychological illness in all participants, with the main complaints related to sleep disorders, panic syndrome, exhaustion, mental fatigue, stress, anxiety, irritability, psychosomatic symptoms, anguish and forgetfulness. It is hoped that this study can contribute to the literature by fostering discussions and boosting other investigations in the field of evaluation and teacher mental health during the pandemic period. It is also intended to collaborate with the institution where the research was developed through a continuing education course unit, which will promote reflections on teacher assessment and mental health. This proposal is presented in the form of an educational product, which is a requirement of professional master's programs, whose purpose is to offer a return to the school community, uniting scientific knowledge with professional practices to promote quality education.