13 de July de 2026
Significant changes in teaching practice are already observed in the first modules of the training offered by the Aprender Linguagem project, according to an analysis conducted by researchers from Labedu and Harvard University.
Alyssa Gandolph, a collaborative researcher from Arizona (USA), is part of the team responsible for data analysis of the ongoing study, led by Paula Cruz Pereira, a researcher at Labedu. The work investigates the effects of continuing education in early childhood education, focusing on the transformation of pedagogical practices in the classroom.
In an interview with Labedu, Gandolph discusses the main findings of the research, the methodological challenges of evaluating educational projects, and the evidence indicating whether changes in teaching practice are, in fact, reaching the children.
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From your perspective, where does real change occur in teacher training? Which elements of teacher training seem most powerful?
I believe that teacher training involves a dual transformation. One of the surprises we had was the significant leap between the initial stage and Module 1. Initially, we imagined that the outcome indicators would improve gradually throughout the project, but what we saw was significant growth right at the beginning, followed by stabilization in subsequent modules. This made sense, since Module 1 was closer to the first exposure to the practices and content of the methodology, still fresh in the teachers’ memory.
I am very excited to see that Labedu continues to evaluate the impact of its projects, because I suspect there is a second wave of transformation that occurs in the long term. In the research, we used a variable composed of several indicators that we expected teachers to develop throughout the training. Although we observed significant growth between the baseline* and the first module, there are less measurable aspects of teaching practice that are also fundamental. As teachers become more confident with the content, the positive effects of the project may become even more evident in the following years — something similar to what we see in the evolution between novice and experienced teachers. With this, it is possible that there is a second, deeper change over time.
One of the most powerful elements of the Aprender methodology is the fact that Labedu begins with the training of pedagogical coordinators, who are already reference figures within the schools. Often, there is resistance from educators regarding training, with thoughts like: “this may have worked elsewhere, but will it work in my school, in my classroom?” Labedu works with coordinators who know the local context and have legitimacy with the teachers. This helps overcome a common barrier in training projects: ensuring not only fidelity in content delivery, but also that it makes sense and is applicable to the reality of each school.
What are the main challenges you see in analyzing the implementation of a teacher training project like Aprender Linguagem, especially when the goal is to transform daily classroom practice?
One of the biggest challenges in evaluating educational projects is identifying which components of the training are truly the most transformative. When we observe improvements in pedagogical practices related to content, we are excited about the results. But the question remains: what, exactly, in the training generated this progress? And how can we enhance this aspect?
Another important point is that, although the content of Aprender was the same, each municipality had a different schedule and started the project at different times. Some networks worked on the content in a more condensed manner, over one year. Others, over almost two years. This flexibility is necessary to adapt the project to local reality, but it makes the analysis more complex, as it is necessary to evaluate not only the overall impact of the training, but also how each specific format influenced the results.
How can we better understand the relationship between the training offered and effective teaching practice?
One of the lessons we learned throughout the project came from Maria Grembecki, Coordinator of Methodologies and Projects at Labedu. When analyzing the results, we noticed that some teachers showed a decline in proficiency after the initial gains of Module 1. Maria reminded us of something essential: teachers are also learners.
Many training projects are structured as one-time actions. Labedu’s proposal, on the other hand, recognizes that the way teachers teach is directly linked to the way they learn. When we think of children as learners, we know that the learning process is not linear. In the first contact with a concept, there is rapid progress, because the starting point is zero. But as the child evolves from beginner to experienced, obstacles arise — concepts become more complex. In our data, we saw significant growth toward proficiency at the beginning, but there was no linear progression to complete mastery of the most sophisticated practices. Some teachers regressed in Module 2 and grew again in subsequent modules. Others maintained stable performance, but faced difficulties in achieving mastery of higher-order concepts.
These findings reinforce the importance of Labedu’s model, which offers continuing education over several modules. Teachers need time to assimilate the content, revisit concepts that are not yet clear, and work through questions. This maturation time is essential to consolidate real changes in pedagogical practice.
What kind of data or signals help to perceive whether changes in teaching practice are reaching the children and making a difference in learning?
It is difficult to directly measure the impact on children in early childhood education. There are fewer assessment instruments available and, even if there were a standardized pre- and post-assessment tool in all municipalities, it would be necessary to isolate the effect of the training from the natural growth of children over time.
Therefore, we look for signals in teaching practice that are recognized as associated with improvements in children’s learning and use these indicators as a proxy**. For example, Paula Cruz Pereira, responsible for the research, and I carefully analyzed how teachers conducted book reading activities. It would not make sense to apply a reading test to children in this context, since the goal is to promote contact with books and written language — factors that are associated with future gains in language and literacy. Instead, we observed behaviors such as: does the teacher create space for children’s participation? Does she direct questions and explanations to them during reading? Specialized literature shows that early engagement with books is related to language development. Thus, we use these behaviors as signals that children are engaged, and we know that engagement and interaction are essential steps for learning.
*It is the set of data collected before an experiment begins; it helps measure the impact of a variable or intervention.
**Proxy, in the research context, refers to an indirect indicator used as a substitute to measure or represent a phenomenon that is difficult to observe directly. These indicators do not directly measure learning, but function as reliable substitutes to infer that it is happening.
Learn more:
Labedu presents research results on Aprender Linguagem at VII CONBAlf
Reflections on implementation of educational programs are the subject of a Labedu article in Nexo