Editorial

Abstract

This edition of the Angolan Journal of University Extension has as its theme "The re-signification of practices in teaching in Angola." To reflect on the theme, the terms resignification and practices were selected to conduct the proposal under analysis. The selection of the terms made it possible to look at the reality of Angolan teaching and analyse the way practices have been done in this context.

The notion of practice is being approached in two dimensions. The first, as the result of the application of a particular action, called pedagogical practices and seen as a curricular unit, and the second, focusing on custom and usage, is more comprehensive and based on the activity of the teacher who, based on his or her knowledge, offers answers to the most varied challenges of the job. The new challenges of the practices in and of teaching served to justify the inclusion of resignification. In this sense, the two terms (re-signification and practices) will be linked to the teaching component.

In the Angolan context, pedagogical practices in higher education are part of the curricula of teacher training areas, with the purpose of taking students to the field for their first experiences, so that they acquire useful skills for the future exercise of their activities.

To illustrate the challenges involved in these two dimensions we used the analogy of a farmer who has to know if a certain plant is suitable for the soil and at the same time must find mechanisms to ensure that it thrives and is not lost. The ability to think of the solution for planting in a satisfactory manner is a strong point of this action and the state of the soil is a weak point. We know, therefore, that between the time of planting and germination, several challenges arise and the end is not always satisfactory. The case of the Covid-19 pandemic was, for teaching, a challenge that required finding ways for teaching to continue. Several barriers needed to be overcome by teachers, who had to find increasingly creative solutions, using technologies or other means to continue teaching activities.

Some of these challenges, as well as the solutions tried out, are dealt with in this issue, in different ways, with emphasis on the new ways of doing teaching, imposed by the Pandemic situation.
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