A fundamental constituent of the reaching habitus of bachelor’s degree-holding professors at Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais (IFMG): professional capital

ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to identify the constitutive elements of the teaching habitus of bachelor’s degree-holding professors working at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Minas Gerais (IFMG). This is a predominantly qualitative case study. The research followed twelve teachers who graduated from bachelor’s programs - mainly engineers - all of whom did not hold teaching degrees. The main data collection methods were interviews and online classroom observations. The theoretical framework adopted was based on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital, as well as the notion of teaching habitus, understood as a specific inflection of habitus. Data were organized and analyzed using a content analysis approach. The results highlight the centrality of a fundamental component in the teaching habitus of the participants: professional capital, understood here as the set of experiences and knowledge acquired by teachers through substantial and meaningful work experience in companies prior to their entry into the field of Professional and Technological Education (EPT).