Methodological contributions for the analysis of meanings in a study on teaching

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the method used in a qualitative study intended to identify and explain the senses and meanings of teaching. It is based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of historical social psychology and the methodological proposal of Aguiar and Ozella (2006), who suggest the construction and analysis of “nuclei of meanings”. The categories of analysis provided by such framework include one that is fundamental for research: meaning. The question which drives this study and is or should be frequently asked by a number of researchers is: how may the choice of method and procedures contribute to analysis? Thus, the key subject of and the major discussion this article generates is the contribution of well-known procedures such as recurrent individual interviews and of procedures which are not so usual, such as awareness raising resources, in this kind of analysis that seeks to apprehend the meanings of teaching. The research has evidenced that a new way of understanding and dealing with these procedures fosters researchers’ greater mastery of and involvement in the investigation process and may, above all, enhance the constructive-interpretative potential of the analysis. Finally, it indicates the need to employ new tools for the analysis of meanings.