Email forwardables: characterizing the teacher community in Brazil/Correos electronicos reenviables: caracterizacion de la comunidad docente en Brasil/Courriers electroniques renvoyes: caracterisation de la communaute des enseignants au Bresil/Correios eletronicos reenviaveis: caracterizacao da comunidade docente no Brasil

In this article, we analyze four of twelve forwardables, that is, email messages, received over a period of four months with the objective of comprehending the discourses about teachers and the teaching profession which pervade the teachers' cultural space in Brazil. For the purpose of analyzing these forwardables, we combine the concept of cultural domain (Spradley, 1980) and the methodological principles of critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010). Our analyses show another aspect of group identity besides that of professional activities, which is a sense of occupying a place of low social prestige. The forwardables, therefore, by being sent on from teacher to teacher in a continuous chain become a form of social cohesion of this particular group. Key words plus Email Forwardables, Teachers, Group Identity. Transfer to practice Based on our analysis and considering forwardables as cultural artifacts rooted in discourse, we believe that this article might contribute to valuing the cultural meanings that Brazilian teachers have given to their practice, and consequently to promoting critical discussions regarding the problems which surround the teaching profession in Brazil. Likewise, we believe that our reflections might encourage Brazilian teachers who work in different contexts to critically examine their situation, to discuss it with their colleagues and with their students, and finally to look for new and more effective ways to reinvent their practice and their social/cultural position. En este articulo se analizan cuatro de doce mensajes reenviables, es decir, correos electronicos recibidos durante un periodo de cuatro meses, con el objetivo de comprender los discursos sobre los docentes y la profesion docente que prevalecen en el espacio cultural de los profesores en Brasil. Para analizar estos mensajes reenviados, combinamos el concepto de ambito cultural (Spradley, 1980) con los principios metodologicos del analisis critico del discurso (Fairclough, 2010). Nuestro analisis muestra otro aspecto de la identidad de grupo, ademas del relacionado con las actividades profesionales, que tiene que ver con la sensacion de ocupar un lugar de bajo prestigio social. Los mensajes, por tanto, al ser enviados de maestro a maestro en una cadena continua se convierten en una forma de cohesion social de este grupo en particular. Palabras clave descriptor Correos electronicos reenviados, maestros, identidad de grupo. Transferencia a la practica Sobre la base de