"Being a teacher is to talk about futures," says the acting rector of Unesc.

On Teacher's Day, celebrated on October 15, the acting rector of Unesc, Gisele Silveira Coelho Lopes, advocated for an education that transforms information into knowledge and connects academic content to real life. In an interview with the Programa do Avesso on Rádio Som Maior, she discussed her journey in teaching, the changes in the relationship with students, the use of technology in the classroom, and the importance of practical and reflective experiences in training new professionals. She also warned about the decreasing interest in teaching careers and the lack of professionals, which could jeopardize education in the coming decades.

A professor for two decades, Gisele began teaching after a professional journey linked to industry and technical training. This experience helped her build a teaching concept based on exchange, curiosity, and student participation. For her, the role of the teacher goes beyond transmitting content; it is about creating conditions for each student to develop critical thinking, autonomy, and the ability to propose solutions to complex challenges.

Check out the interview:

Programa do Avesso: Did you imagine being a teacher when you were a child?

Gisele Silveira Coelho Lopes: No. When I was a child, I imagined being a lawyer. I wanted to wear the robe and be in the courts. It is a very respected profession. I have a lawyer at home, who is my husband, but life took other paths. I tried to take the entrance exam for Law four times and did not succeed.

In 1999, Unesc launched the Administration - Foreign Trade course. That caught my attention. I have always been curious and thought: why not? I studied Administration, but being a teacher was not in my plans either. I worked in the industry, in the area of planning and production control, and I was professionally fulfilled.

When I finished my undergraduate degree, a professor invited me to teach at Senai, in the Clothing Technical Course. I taught planning and production control, exactly what I did every day in the industry, and it was love at first sight. I taught what I knew in practice and was very fulfilled by that experience.

After my undergraduate and graduate studies, I ran into that same professor in a hallway at Unesc. He asked what I was doing with my life, and I told him I was working in the industry and teaching at Senai. Then he asked if I would like to teach at Unesc.

The answer was immediate. I wanted to. He informed me that the class would be on Monday, and it was Friday. It was a substitute position for a professor on maternity leave, in a Customs Legislation course. The content was complex, full of codes and regulations. I spent the entire weekend studying to prepare for the class.

Programa do Avesso: Have you always been driven by challenges?

Gisele: Very much. When someone presents me with something complex, I go after it and try to solve it. I like it when someone says that something is impossible to do because it challenges me to find a solution. I will find a way.

That’s why I often say that the profession chose me. I didn’t choose it. I identified with teaching along the way.

I started teaching in the technical course at 25 and entered the undergraduate program at 26. I was very young and encountered students who were 50 or 60 years old, many older than me. I also had the opportunity to teach colleagues who had not yet completed their undergraduate studies. I studied with those people and then returned to the classroom to teach the subjects they still needed to complete.

It was a huge reality shock. At that moment, it was necessary to assume a position of great responsibility, but also of humility. The teacher is not in the classroom to compete with the student.

When I finished the substitution, a selection process was opened at Unesc. I participated in a selection with a curriculum analysis, an examining board, and a class for evaluation. One of the first questions was how I would deal with people more experienced than me in the classroom.

I replied that I would handle it the same way I deal with anyone. The relationship between teacher and student needs to be horizontal, not vertical. I see the teacher as a mediator, not as someone who holds all the power. It is someone who inspires, builds together, and, when faced with a question for which they do not have an answer at that moment, acknowledges it and commits to bringing the information in the next class.

When the teacher adopts this posture, they gain the trust of the student. I was approved in that selection process and have been at Unesc for 26 years as a student and 20 years as a teacher.

I have taught many students, and currently, I also have the experience of working in the Master's program in Health Management. It is wonderful to look back and realize how the journey shapes us.

Programa do Avesso: Do you still teach in the classroom?

Gisele: Yes. Entering the classroom means forgetting that there is a life outside. We enter another dimension. When I work on a specific content with the students, I relive that knowledge in that moment. Time passes so quickly that, before we know it, two or three hours have gone by in a process of joint construction and reflection.

Being a teacher is to commit to transforming lives through what we believe in. We don’t need to talk much. We need to show the student that the content can make sense in their life.

The teacher is not someone who simply fills the board with information and believes that people will learn from that. The teacher connects. They make the necessary relationships so that the student perceives the meaning of that knowledge for their own life and future.

When we see ourselves as mediators of knowledge and enable students to move from a passive to an active role, exercising their ability to think, we create opportunities for transformation.

Not everything we say will be absorbed immediately. However, examples, attitudes, and gestures can leave a lasting mark on a student's life. Recently, I had an experience that illustrates this well. A student I taught 12 years ago reached out to me on Facebook. I didn't even remember her. She no longer lived in Criciúma and wrote that she was recalling an example presented during a class.

At that time, I had said that perhaps the example wouldn't make sense at that moment, but it could in the future. After all those years, she contacted me to share that she had finally understood the meaning of that and needed to acknowledge that I had made a difference in her life.

Often, teachers have no idea what will happen in a student's life over the years. The teacher is part of a journey but does not necessarily follow everything that comes after.

If we were to keep a record of the teachers who have impacted our lives, we would probably spend hours recalling each one. Many of them have no idea how important they were. We carry a bit of each teacher who has been part of our story.

Therefore, every class I prepare also reminds me of experiences and teachings I received from other teachers.

Programa do Avesso: In the past, there was a greater perception of respect for the figure of the teacher. Does this movement still exist? Does the teacher need to understand that the student has changed in order to establish a connection?

Gisele: I believe we continue to be human beings. What has changed is the context. New technologies have made information much faster and more accessible. In the past, we didn't have the equipment available today, and we expected much more from the teacher to share what they had learned first.

There was a culture of obedience, top-down. This doesn't mean that students learned more or less, but it was the way relationships were established.

When I think of the teachers who impacted me the most, I remember those who had the empathy to see me in the classroom. They didn't always need to spend hours eloquently discussing a particular content. They simply recognized that I was there, with my limitations, and understood that while I might not get a perfect score, I could achieve an eight in my own way.

Today's teacher is still someone who cares about the student, especially those who enter the classroom surrounded by information and technology. Any word spoken in class can lead the student to quickly consult information. The challenge is to occupy that space and show that having access to information does not necessarily mean building knowledge.

The teacher needs to care about the student and establish, through dialogue, the meaning of that knowledge for their life. Another challenge is reaching the student who speaks little and interacts less. The excess of screens has also contributed to changes in behavior, and the teacher needs to find ways to establish that connection.

Moreover, there are important differences among students in the same class. Some come with a more technical background and a more consistent prior preparation. Others have had fewer opportunities to develop certain knowledge. These are different levels of learning that need to be considered.

This doesn't mean we need to personalize absolutely everything for each student. The challenge is to build dynamics and methodologies that allow for the learning of different profiles. The teacher has a curriculum to follow, but they need to include methodologies in their planning that make the student think. When we look at the job market, we realize that one of the great differentiators in a selection process is the ability to present solutions and proposals for complex problems.

If the student merely memorizes content, they will have retained information. This does not mean they have truly learned. The question is how to make them understand what we are teaching. This is where the teacher's talent comes in. Teaching is also an art.

Programa do Avesso: How can we make students learn in a scenario where technology offers increasingly rapid answers?

Gisele: We need to awaken curiosity. Otherwise, everything becomes very fast and superficial. The student may solve a problem, but they might not understand how they arrived at that answer, what it is for, or why that path works.

The teacher needs to establish meanings for learning. When I start a learning unit, I need to understand what the student should learn. From there, I establish with the class the objectives and commitments of that journey.

The conversation changes when the student understands what they need to learn and why. I stop worrying only about the class end time and start thinking about the necessary path for learning to happen.

This is one of the great challenges of teaching. Often, the figure of the teacher has begun to be devalued by society itself. In the past, when the school called the parents, the student knew they would have to answer for that at home. There was a relationship of respect for the authority of the teacher. Today, in some situations, we see parents questioning the teacher for having demanded certain content or required an assignment.

We need to reflect on the responsibility that falls on the teacher. First, it is necessary to look at the class as a whole. Then, think of a teaching method that promotes learning and build the path for it to happen.

Students often want the answer on the same day, but they need to understand that there is a process. Immediate gratification must be overcome in learning. When we receive something ready-made, we may present the answer, but if someone asks for an explanation of the reasoning used, we might not know how to explain. The teacher needs to construct this learning path.

That’s why I often say that a teacher's life does not end when the class is over. It is essential to recognize the importance of this professional as an agent of transformation through education. We also need to understand that the performance of a class depends on many factors. If three teachers prepared and taught the same content to the same class at different times, we would certainly have distinct experiences and results.

The student's expectations do not always match the perspective of the teacher. The teacher sees what needs to be learned and the necessary path to achieve that knowledge. This does not happen with a snap of the fingers, a click, or by pressing the Enter key.

What differentiates the teaching and learning process is not just the available technologies, but the teacher's ability to mediate what needs to be learned.

Programa do Avesso: What are the essential qualities for a teacher, regardless of their profile or area of expertise?

Gisele: First, they need to inspire. To reach a student, it is necessary to spark curiosity. How can I make someone interested in what I believe if I am not even convinced of the importance of what I need to teach?

The educator Rubem Alves said that the teacher is the one who produces astonishment, who provokes that restlessness capable of awakening curiosity. We need to make the student ask why they should learn a certain content and what the meaning of that knowledge is for their life.

Another point is to make the student an author and protagonist. We are used to the traditional system, where the teacher is seen as the one who knows. However, the student already arrives with knowledge acquired throughout life.

We need to develop in them the commitment to lead projects, participate, belong, and share what they believe in. It is up to the teacher to establish connections between the knowledge the student already possesses and what they still need to learn.

It is also necessary to use technology with purpose. It makes no sense to take the class to the computer lab just because students need to be connected. We need to ask what the objective of that technology is and how it will contribute to learning.

Technology does not necessarily mean computer, cell phone, or whiteboard. A methodology can also be a technology used to lead the student to learn. The important thing is that there is a purpose for the resource or the chosen path.

Another fundamental aspect is the building of bonds. When the teacher cares about the student, perceives the different profiles present in the classroom, and recognizes the differences in learning, they can prepare experiences that are more suitable for the class.

Some students learn better by listening, others need to get hands-on, and there are those who like to write. Understanding these differences helps prepare classes capable of reaching multiple profiles.

There is no recipe for being a teacher. Seeking a unique formula for learning can be dangerous. The teacher is the one who provokes lasting experiences in the student, inspires through their own leadership, and can leave a mark on a life.

Programa do Avesso: How to put this conception of learning into practice?

Gisele: I had a very impactful experience with a Business Consulting course about 15 years ago. The course had an evaluation process, but I was thinking of a methodology that did not depend on a traditional exam.

At the time, I presented the proposal to the course committee. Some colleagues questioned how it would be possible to teach a course of that nature without an exam. The syllabus was approved, but I still needed to find a way to teach the students how to conduct a business consultancy.

The idea came to me while I was taking a shower. I was thinking that the semester, in practice, does not necessarily happen in six months, but in approximately 90 days of activities. So, why not organize a different methodology, with one period dedicated to content and another to practical experience?

I started writing on the fogged-up shower door the idea of a 60-day plan. When I got out of the shower, I grabbed a notepad and recorded everything I had thought about.

The proposal was to work for 30 days on the necessary content to align and level the students' knowledge about Administration. Then, they would have 60 days to conduct consultancies directly with entrepreneurs.

Administration is a field where the laboratory is also life itself. I needed to create an opportunity for students to experience professional reality during their undergraduate studies.

In 2013, I took the car with the support of two scholarship students and we traveled through the Grande Santa Luzia region in Criciúma, visiting small businesses. We went to stores, woodworking shops, bakeries, and other establishments, explaining the proposal and asking if they would accept to receive a business consultancy.

We visited 60 microenterprises, and 15 agreed to participate. I organized a meeting with the business owners, explained that the consultants would be university students, and presented the proposal for a kind of management clinic, offering a real consulting experience. They accepted.

Then, I organized the methodological process and began preparing the students. On the first day of class, I told them that from that moment on, they would not just be students of that subject. They would be academic consultants.

The reaction was one of surprise. They didn't know exactly what was coming. I explained that they would receive the name of each pair's company and would have a period to research the business, understand its characteristics, and gather information without initially contacting the business owner.

During the first 30 days, I worked on the possibilities, prepared the class, and sought to stimulate curiosity. The students were eager because there was a real mission to accomplish.

I also made it clear that I would be by their side as a mentor. The goal was to build the experience together, providing support so they could develop their work.

On the day of the first meeting with the business owners, we arranged the room in clusters and prepared a different environment. The business owners arrived, and the students were aligned, with spreadsheets and materials ready to conduct the diagnostics.

I remember that day as if it were today. It was 10 PM, and the class had not yet ended. Around 10:30 PM, the business owners left, but the students remained in the room, full of questions about how to develop the next steps.

I created WhatsApp groups to monitor the work, and the class continued from Monday to Monday. There was a mission to fulfill, and the students were engaged with the experience. I believe they learned much more because they were able to make sense of the knowledge. The course is no longer under my responsibility, but other professors in the program continue to use the same methodology.

This experience shows what happens when we find a way to spark students' interest in what needs to be learned.

Programa do Avesso: How does this concept currently appear in the education offered by Unesc?

Gisele: At Unesc, we work with experiential learning, a proposal that values what resonates with the student and allows them to construct their own knowledge during the learning process.

This perspective aligns with the reflections of author Jorge Larrosa on experience. Learning is not just about hearing about something or knowing an experience lived by someone else. It is necessary to experience, feel, and construct meanings from what happens to us.

In experiential learning, the student takes ownership of the knowledge constructed throughout the educational journey. The professor establishes meanings and creates conditions for this learning to happen, but the student also actively participates in the construction of knowledge.

We have been working a lot with experiences that connect students to the community. The example of the Business Consulting represents a practice of integrating extension into the curriculum, where the student comes into direct contact with reality and develops activities related to their education.

They do not need to wait until they finish their course to start experiencing situations typical of the profession. The University can provide real experiences during the educational process, with guidance and support.

This also happens in integrated health clinics, where students participate in care in different areas, such as Dentistry, Physical Therapy, and Nursing, always with the necessary supervision.

The same principle can be applied to business, engineering, and education. Experience is not limited to an internship. It is part of the education itself. Education has evolved, and the trend is that more and more professors need to reinvent themselves and understand that educating means building experiences that favor learning.

The student arrives at basic education or higher education wanting to be stimulated. Given the available technologies, much information is already presented ready-made. Young people and adults need to be challenged to become authors of their own knowledge. Critical thinking involves authorship and the ability to perceive that a given situation can be better utilized or resolved in another way.

The World Economic Forum has already pointed out, since 2020, the need to develop critical, analytical, and proactive skills in students. The pandemic accelerated transformations that were already underway, and the job market began to demand professionals capable of thinking, broadening their perspectives, and proposing solutions to the challenges of reality.

Learning through experience requires dedication from both the student and the professor. We need to believe in this proposal and encourage society to recognize the importance of education.

Programa do Avesso: What is the main warning for the future of education?

Gisele: We need to talk about the declining interest in the teaching profession. There are concerning projections about the shortage of teachers in the coming decades. The estimates I mentioned indicate a deficit of 44 million teachers worldwide by 2030. For Latin America and the Caribbean, the projection is for 3.2 million fewer professionals. In Brazil, the estimate for 2040 is a shortage of 235,000 teachers in basic education.

These are numbers that need to provoke reflection. Many people may lose interest in the profession, and this will have consequences for current and future generations. Unesc is an institution responsible for training teachers in the region, but we are facing difficulties in filling classes in the teaching degrees. The Geography program was closed due to a lack of students. Today, we no longer have this program running at the university.

In the teaching degree programs, there are still available spots. The university offers institutional subsidies that enable free training, but even so, we cannot fill all the vacancies. This scenario needs to be analyzed carefully. It is not about discouraging those in education, but about alerting to a problem that may worsen.

We also observe difficulties in other areas. In engineering, there is a decrease in interest among high school students. One of the issues we need to consider is the search for ready-made answers, to the detriment of developing critical, analytical, and mathematical reasoning.

Life demands reasoning. We need to understand problems, evaluate alternatives, and find solutions. We cannot distance ourselves from these competencies just because technology offers immediate answers.

It is essential to value teachers as professionals who help build futures. Without teachers, we are nothing. If I am where I am today, it is because I had teachers who contributed to my education. The same goes for everyone who had the opportunity to study.

Programa do Avesso: What message would you like to leave for teachers on this day dedicated to the profession?

Gisele: I wish all the teachers at the university and in the region a day full of meaning, where they can remember the legacy left in the lives of the students who passed through their classrooms.

This legacy is not limited to today's students. It involves all the people who have been part of each teacher's journey. Once a teacher, you will always be a teacher. It is possible to leave the career and follow another professional path, but one day you will meet an old student who will call you teacher. This bond remains.

The teacher is eternalized in our lives. The educators who have passed away continue to live in my memory, and when I recall certain events, I remember the experiences and teachings they provided me.

I want to especially remember two teachers who marked my journey. Professor Rosimari Duarte, who is still at Unesc and is a great woman, an inspiration to me, and Professor Luciane Bisognin Ceretta, who was my thesis advisor.

Professor Luciane also allowed me to return to work alongside her, and today we are partners in a beautiful mission, where we jointly commit to the University. She continues to be my teacher.

Life goes by, gray hairs start to appear, but the experiences of the journey remain. The teacher marks our lives, often without realizing the impact they have made. I send a kiss to Professors Rosimari and Luciane and to all the teachers who have been part of my story.

To all teachers, my recognition and affection. May we continue to build experiences, stimulate curiosity, and transform lives through education.