Brazilian Educational Thought and Teacher Education

The concentration area “Brazilian Educational Thought and Teacher Education” is focused on encouraging the examination of theories and practices in teacher education as expressions of the historically constructed trends present in Brazilian educational thought and educational policies. Its core consists of research at various levels of education and in multiple specificities.

1. EDUCATION HISTORY AND POLICIES

This research area is focused on an investigation of Brazilian educational thought in the context of its relationship with the history of education and educational policies. It includes a discussion of teacher education from the perspective of the history of education and educational policies. It also includes the study of these policies’ historical processes and their manifestations in educational conceptions, knowledge, and practices.

 

1.1 History: Education Policies and Teacher Education

 

The aim of this research group is to provide a venue for the study and research of the way education has historically been organized in Paraná and Brazil and the formation of the educational system’s policies related to educational institutionalization at all levels, especially in terms of teacher education. The history and educational policy of Paraná will be considered in relation to Brazilian education and the international policies that have, in some way, influenced them.

Leaders: Prof. Maria Elisabeth Blanck Miguel, Ph.D., and Prof. Alboni Marisa Dudeque Pianovski Vieira, Ph.D.

Research projects linked to this group:

EDUCATIONAL POLICIES, TEACHER EDUCATION, AND SCHOOLING

Coordinator: Prof. Maria Elisabeth Blanck Miguel, Ph.D.

Returning to an examination of the past in search of significant educational facts that remain “classic” has proved its value and is a practice that deserves to be identified and preserved in teacher education. The expression “classic” is used here in the sense adopted by Saviani. Here, the notion of “classic” seems to be of great importance in pedagogy. “Classic” should not to be confused with “traditional,” nor should it be considered opposed to “modern,” much less the current state of affairs in education. “Classic” refers to that which has been established as fundamental or essential (2003, pp. 14-15). Therefore, based on these assumptions, we pose the following guiding question: What characteristics defined the relationship between public-education policies and teacher education and primary public education in the educational context in Curitiba from 1946 to 1971? With this question as a guiding theme, this problem will be examined to help students understand how the educational policies present in the history of Brazilian education, especially in Paraná, conformed to specific norms, encouraging the systematization of specific schools and teacher-education proposals connected to the national context. This question raises other implicit ones: What is the relationship between this process and how Parana’s education system, primarily that of public education from 1946 to 1971, became consistent within schools? Has this process changed teacher education by providing educators with greater theoretical understanding and improved mastery of teaching and learning methods and techniques?

 

TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC POLICIES

Coordinator: Prof. Maria Elisabeth Blanck Miguel, Ph.D.

 

The object of the research is focused on the Republican period with the aim of encouraging the study of the new relationships that education in the Brazilian states (in this case, Paraná) developed, in the context of the history and policies of education and teacher education, with Latin American countries and international organizations, especially UNESCO. Thus, the intention of the project is to help students understand how education and teacher-education policies were implemented and what types of interrelationships were established with other countries and international organizations, particularly UNESCO, during this process, which lasted from 1946 to 1971.

 

HISTORY, MEMORY, AND TEACHER EDUCATION

Coordinator: Prof. Alboni Marisa Dudeque Pianovski Vieira, Ph. D.

 

The aim of this research project is to encourage students to examine how the educational system of Paraná has historically been organized, defining, through this process, educational policy at various levels of education, particularly that of teacher education. The main topics covered in this course are history and policies, and consideration is given to both to enable students to better understand Brazilian education.

 

1.2 Brazilian Educational Thought: History and Policies

This research group is involved with scientific research projects that reflect the research objectives, and its goal is to enable students to contribute to the remembrance of the political ideas and actions that left a mark on the history of education and teacher education in Brazil. It also requires students to critically analyze the epistemologies that have formed the basis of educational practices and teacher education.

Leaders: Prof. Peri Mesquida, Ph.D., and Prof. Evelyn de Almeida Orlando, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

THE HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND POLITICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF THEORY AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE IN PAULO FREIRE’S WORK: THE EDUCATOR AS AN INTELLECTUAL

Coordinator: Prof. Peri Mesquida, Ph.D.

 

The fundamental research question of this scientific investigation is the following: “Is there organicity in the relationship between theory and practice in Paulo Freire’s pedagogical proposal?” Through this investigation, the epistemological foundation that supports the practice of education, despite representing diverse and divergent authors and their conceptions of the world, can yield a consistent, reliable theory. To confirm and communicate this argument, researchers will survey Paulo Freire’s work and, at the same time, conduct field research to verify, in the practices of educators and students, consistency between the theory and pedagogical actions. The participation of foreign researchers in groups that deal with teacher education at their universities allows a critical look at the data and can be used to illuminate the European view on Paulo Freire’s theory and practice, yielding a holistic perception of it. Another goal of the project is to prompt students to answer a disturbing question: “Do the concepts of ‘people’, ‘class’, ‘freedom’, ‘oppression’, ‘educational freedom’, ‘awareness’, and ‘dialogue’ have the same counter-ideological weight that they had in the 1970s and 1980s?” It is believed that the search for answers to the fundamental research question and the political questions implied by it is of great scientific and political importance, since Paulo Freire’s thought and the method that originated from the theory he pioneered continue to serve as didactic and educational instruments in Brazil and various other parts of the world.

 

EDUCATION, RELIGIONS, AND CULTURES

Coordinator: Evelyn de Almeida Orlando, Ph.D.

 

This project addresses the relationship between gender, religion, and culture in an effort to help students understand religion as a cultural object and, especially, women’s actions within its context, with an emphasis placed on cultural maintenance and reproduction in various spaces, especially the domestic one. Therefore, the related issues will be magnified, and both the formal (classroom) education processes and non-formal ones, which, in many ways, effectively become constitutive of the subjects, will be considered. Focused on the twentieth century because of the beliefs about schooling that arose during it, the project will include addressing, in a unique way, three axes: the actions of intellectuals, their printed productions, and the other educational practices not necessarily included in the formal schooling process. Examining how these factors aided the production and dissemination of knowledge while considering their interlocutions and sociability networks (SIRINELLI, 1996),  strategies, and tactics (CERTEAU, 1994) is the theoretical-methodological means that will be used to conduct this research. Religion was chosen because it is a field that induces many tensions and disputes within the educational scenario and leads one to question the legitimacy of an individual’s education (BOURDIEU, 2004). The history of subjects is the history of their groups and knowledge, beliefs, advances and achievements, setbacks and failures, practices, culture, and existence in the world. Education is examined in the cultural-formation context by using religion as the main context for analysis. The theoretical-methodological references made are based on the concepts of cultural history, gender studies (especially the history of women), and the science of religions. In this way, we will attempt to highlight important figures from our educational history who are often obscured, such as women, but who have played fundamental formative roles in the home, at school, and in several other spaces that have been under-recorded in our historiography. The goal here is to encourage students to examine how women, through education, have built means of social expansion, which they have appropriated and established themselves, regardless of how slow their progress might have been. The female presence in the educational projects, processes, and cultural formation of Brazilian society requires more significant research investments. Finally, we seek to examine religions as cultural objects charged with senses and sensibilities and the fruits of their subjects’ experiences, in the sense proposed by Walter Benjamin (1994), as evidence of the ways that subjects “build themselves” and the world in which they live.

 

THE LITERACY OF YOUNG PEOPLE, ADULTS, AND CHILDREN IN PRIMARY EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF THE THEORY AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE OF PESTALOZZI AND FREIRE: A MATTER OF METHOD?

Coordinator: Prof. Peri Mesquida, Ph.D.

 

The aim of this project is to encourage students to examine Pestalozzi’s works that have been translated into French, Portuguese, and Spanish and to unveil his educational theory and teaching method; likewise, another goal is to facilitate research of his work to conceptualize the educational theory that supports the adult literacy method called the “Paulo Freire Method.” With this material in hand, we aim to develop a methodology for expanding child literacy and another for expanding youth and adult literacy that surpasses the standard method used in most primary education schools, first- and second-year ones, and first- and second-cycle (youth and adult) ones, which is based on the uncritical memorization of the letters of the alphabet, followed by syllabic combinations, and then words. Hence, there is a need for further studies on the work of Pestalozzi and Freire.

 

1.3 School Institutions in Brazil (GHIEB)

 

The general objective of the group is the following: to promote research and dissemination of information regarding the history of education, especially the aspects of it that deal with educational institutions in Brazil, addressing them from the perspective of the knowledge and practices that unite various facets of school culture and have guided teacher education in Brazil.

 

Leaders: Rosa Lydia Teixeira Corrêa, Ph.D.,  and Reginaldo Rodrigues da Costa, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

SCHOOL MATERIAL CULTURE AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINES: THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF IDEAS, KNOWLEDGE, AND APPROPRIATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE

Coordinator: Rosa Lydia Teixeira Corrêa, Ph.D.

 

This project is part of the “History of School Disciplines Research Group” (GPHDE), which is operated as part of the “History and Education Policy” research area. Its objective is to encourage the study of the history of education based on an examination of school materials (textbooks, periodicals, notebooks, tests), understanding them as constitutive of school culture. The aim of the group’s activities is to help students apprehend educational ideas and impart to them the knowledge that was part of teacher education at various schooling levels in relation to school courses’ purposes throughout the twentieth century. The methodology of this course is based on theoretical and methodological guidelines regarding cultural history (Certeau, Chartier, Julia) and school discipline history (Chervel). As part of this field, the project’s activities involve locating and cataloging historical sources in public, school, and personal archives, as well as oral testimonies from former teachers and alumni, establishing and organizing a database to be made available for further research.

 

1.4 Public Policy and Teacher Education

 

The aim of this group is to encourage the investigation of the historical, cultural, and social references that affect the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies and theories in the fields of management, curriculum development, and assessment, which are involved in teacher education and managerial training at institutions of basic and higher education and are related to their coexistence and guarantees of respect for students’ rights and social justice.

 

Leaders: Ana Maria Eyng, Ph.D., and Sirley Terezinha Filipak, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

ASSESSMENT, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, AND TEACHER-EDUCATION POLICIES

Coordinator: Prof. Ana Maria Eyng, Ph.D.

 

The impacts of large-scale assessment policies on curricula and teacher education are problematized in this research project. In this project, the relationships between assessment policies; curriculum development; initial and continuing teacher education; understanding planning, management, and program evaluation and their processes; and treating teaching institutions as integrated actors in realizing social equality in education are explored. The research presented in this course is based on the historical, political, and conceptual foundations of assessment, curriculum, and teacher/professor education in primary and higher-education contexts.

 

PUBLIC POLICIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS

Coordinator: Ana Maria Eyng, Ph.D.

 

 

This course is focused on examining the relationship between human rights and school violence and its implications for curriculum development and teacher education. The project is linked to the PPGE/PUCPR School Violence Observatory and is offered to serve the national and international observatory network’s purpose of integrating research activities with intervention-related ones. The school context is studied to promote the recognition of rights through dialogue concerning cultural diversity, equality and gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation/identity differences. The research’s aim is to diagnose issues related to human rights and violence in schools and examine their implications for social equality in education. Based on the diagnosis carried out, actions that guarantee that children’s and adolescents’ rights will be respected and promote protagonism in an intercultural educational process can be outlined.

 

THE TRAINING OF MANAGERS AT PARANÁ EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Coordinator: Prof. Sirley Terezinha Filipak, Ph.D.

 

The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the training given to current and future managers at educational institutions in Paraná, considering that most of the teachers who assume such positions do not receive initial training in the area of education management. The conditions in the schools that train teachers to serve as managers and fill managerial positions at schools in Paraná will be examined. This investigation will lead to the elaboration of a theoretical framework that includes management-related and managerial concepts and educational legislation regarding training, standardization, and the filling of management positions. Documentary analysis of managerial training in schools in Paraná will be conducted to identify the knowledge, strategies, actions, and policies employed when filling management positions as well as the mechanisms aimed at enhancing the professional preparation of the current and future manager.

 

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR CURRICULA, EVALUATIONS, AND TEACHER EDUCATION

Coordinator: Prof. Ana Maria Eyng, Ph.D.

 

This course is focused on exploring the concept of “Human Rights Education” (EDH) in relation to teacher education. Throughout the course, the references used in the theme’s analysis will come from theoretical studies about curriculum development and documentary research regarding public policy, addressing the relationships between teacher education, human rights, and violence in schools and their implications for curricula and assessment in basic and higher education. The project is linked to the PPGE/PUCPR School Violence Observatory and the researchers’ network is maintained by the UNESCO Chair on Youth, Education, and Society. The aim of the research is to encourage students to analyze the issues related to human rights and violence in schools and their implications for teachers’ efforts to achieve social equality in education.

 

GUARANTEEING RIGHTS IN DAILY LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH: POLICIES AND PRACTICES AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

 

Coordinator: Ana Maria Eyng, Ph.D.

 

In this course, the need to institute policies to guarantee students’ rights and prevent and eradicate violence in daily spaces through greater student inclusion in political and educational processes in both school and community spaces is examined. Based on this research objective, the course is focused on guaranteeing respect for the rights of children, adolescents, and youth at the international level, emphasizing the right to intercultural dialogue. In this sense, policies and programs that promote intercultural dialogue have the opportunity to redefine children’s and youths’ daily lives as spaces for guaranteeing rights and justice. The school and curriculum are understood as spaces for living and ensuring rights through dialogue about various aspects of cultural diversity, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation/identity equality, differences, and other traits that must be respected to ensure the dignity of individuals in their everyday lives. The study’s methodological development integrates the documentary study of international policies with empirical data from investigations of programs that guarantee rights in various countries. The empirical investigation is linked to the cooperation agreement between agents working to guarantee the rights of children and adolescents, including the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN), Organization of American States (OAS), Marist International Solidarity Foundation (FMSI), Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Centro Marista de defesa da infância (Marist Center for the Defense of Children) (CEDIN), and Observatório das juventudes (Youth Observatory) (PUCPR).

 

1.5 Educational Policies: Conceptions and Practices

 

The aim of this group is to encourage students to explore educational policies considering the national and international context’s influence on their formulation and implementation and their impact on the educational reality concerning social justice and citizenship. It is also meant to enable the deepening of studies on educational policies for the elaboration of theses and dissertations by graduate students in education and facilitate an exchange between researchers from Portugal and Switzerland and their national and international publications.

 

Leader: Maria Lourdes Gisi, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

EVALUATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL POLICIES

Coordinator: Maria Lourdes Gisi, Ph.D.

 

This research’s objective is to examine the educational policies proposed after the Brazilian Educational Law (LDB) (Law no. 9394/96) was approved. The aim is to analyze how such policies have been implemented in relation to educational access and permanence. The research involves conducting a critical analysis of educational policies, considering educational access a “right.” The evaluation of educational policies allows an analysis of what has been proposed and implemented and the impact of expanding access to education. The field research will be conducted through document analysis concerning the current legislation and data analysis provided by the INEP (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira) (National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira), IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), ILO, and OECD. Another goal is to analyze theoretical approaches regarding educational access, policy evaluation, permanence, and training based on dissertations and theses, as well as scientific papers published in national journals qualified by the education conference’s area of study, which deals with educational policies and evaluation and allows an understanding of how public-policy evaluation is analyzed in contemporary literature. Its sub-project is called “Access to Higher Education, Vocational Training, and Social Mobility.”

 

PUBLIC POLICIES FOR YOUTH: EDUCATION AND WORK

Coordinator: Maria Lourdes Gisi, Ph.D.

 

This project’s object of investigation is the relationship between higher-education training policies and work in the context of economic changes, specifically, the relationship of these policies with society’s requirements concerning the training process. Such requirements are considered within a context in which education is strongly linked to economic development. It is argued that the excessive emphasis that has been given to teaching methods and techniques, such as active-learning methodologies, without considering the human or ethical dimensions of the training process, may be changing the profile of higher education alumni to adapt them to the demands of the labor market. The study is meant to contribute an analysis of the critical aspects and challenges of higher education in the literature.

 

1.6 Policies, Teacher Education, Teaching Work, and Social Representations: PEFORS

 

This group is focused on investigations that seek to examine the educational, historical, and social-political processes that constitute the professionalization of teaching, from social representations to other theoretical references, assuming that such studies can be a powerful instrument of analysis to understand the social constructions that, in some historical contexts, define the policies of the education field and teachers’ work. While researching the policies and psychosocial processes of the education field and teachers’ work, the group will develop research oriented to the analysis of national guidelines on education and teachers’ work; studies on initial choice; permanence in the profession; initial education; initial integration; the conditions of teaching; the national, state and municipal management of education; work and teaching careers; research focused on policies (texts); and research that analyzes the impacts of such policies on teachers’ work and their professional development and level of professionalism, among other attributes. Cooperation with the UNESCO Chair on the Professional Development of Teachers, coordinated by CIERS-ed (International Center for Studies of Social Representations and Subjectivity-Education of the Carlos Chagas Foundation) has provided the means to connect groups and graduate researchers in Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina, as well as promote joint research and publication development.

 

Leader: Romilda Teodora Ens, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

TEACHER EDUCATION POLICIES: REPRESENTATIONS OF INSERTION AND PROFESSIONALIZATION IN SCHOOL SPACES

Leader: Romilda Teodora Ens, Ph.D.

 

This research project is linked to the research area dealing with psychosocial processes in education and teachers’ work within the scope of the UNESCO Chair on the Professional Development of Teachers, coordinated by CIERS-ed (International Center of Studies on Social Representations and Subjectivity-Education of the Carlos Chagas Foundation). In this research, which includes the theoretical contribution of educational policies and the theory of social representations, initial and continuing teacher education, professional insertion, and teaching work as well as productions are examined and articulated in master’s and doctoral programs, conferences, seminars, and scientific journals in the  Brazilian education area in which a teacher is trained. The insertion and production process of his/her professionalization within the context of educational spaces and professional performance are also examined. The following topics are covered: continuing teacher education, identity studies, teaching work, and knowledge production in teacher education.

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2. PEDAGOGICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE IN TEACHER EDUCATION

The area’s purpose is to encourage students to question, reflect on, and analyze pedagogical practices, teaching, learning, educational technologies, and teaching knowledge in relation to teachers’ initial and continuing education.

 

2.1 Educational Praxis: Dimensions and Processes

 

The aim of this research group is to encourage examination of the educational practices carried out in the school context. The purpose of the investigation is to help students understand the relationship between teaching and sociocultural interferences in everyday practice. The analysis process starts with examining a practice to understand the relationships that guide it. The resulting theory is an expression of this practice. The main themes of the research address didactics, teacher education, professionalization, and teaching knowledge.

 

Leaders: Joana Paulin Romanowski, Ph.D., and Pura Lucia Oliver Martins, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

THE BASIC-EDUCATION TEACHER’S PROFESSIONAL INSERTION: FROM TEACHER EDUCATION TO PROFESSIONALIZATION

Coordinator: Joana Paulin Romanowski, Ph.D.

 

This course is focused on the professionalization of teaching, from insertion to the consolidation of one’s teaching career, and developing an understanding of teachers’ professional insertion since the first initiatives systematizing teaching practices, which have led to ruptures and changes in the mastery of the profession. The continuous training process of teacher professionalization from the perspective of the relationship between the university and schools is also analyzed.

 

THE INTERLOCUTION OF THE PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES OF BASIC EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY IN THE TEACHING-EDUCATION PROCESS

Coordinator: Pura Lucia Oliver Martins, Ph.D.

 

This project’s objective is to examine education professionals’ pedagogical practices from the perspective of various types of categories and teaching practices (early childhood education, primary education, upper secondary education, and higher education). Its frame of reference is based on the current inclusion and diversity policies initiated in the search for social equity. The objective of the investigation is to systematize, based on the initiatives of education professionals (teachers, pedagogues, principals, and employees) from various institutions, guiding principles for pedagogical practice as an expression of the social relations of this historical moment, with the aim of contributing to the dialogue between teacher-education programs and primary schools. The research field includes various institutions where the educational process is carried out, such as Quilombola communities and penal institutions where education is provided (from the perspective of human rights), schools in the “Municipal Education Network” of Curitiba, and other schools. The expected social impact will be a contribution to advances in pedagogical practice that can transform the educational process research in the area.

 

PEDAGOGICAL SCENARIOS FOR INTEGRATING ICT INTO TEACHER EDUCATION: CRE@TIVITY

Coordinator: Dilmeire Sant’Anna Ramos Vosgerau, Ph.D.

 

Considering the existing research on teachers’ difficulties in integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into pedagogical practice, we present this proposal to study teacher education with the triad of planning, application, and reflection as guidelines for this integration. This research project includes studying the conception of learning objects, instruments, and methods to accompany learning when it includes technological resources. The pedagogical scenarios examined will enable technological resource integration and help students fundamentally understand various proposals and national and international environments in the context of initial and continuing teacher education and technological resource integration in pedagogical practice.

 

UNIVERSITY AND BASIC EDUCATION: THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAMS THROUGH COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMATIZATION

Coordinator: Pura Lucia Oliver Martins, Ph.D.

 

The research project’s objective is to facilitate the study of the theoretical-practical education of teachers in undergraduate education programs through collective knowledge systematization. The general objective is to systematize guiding principles for teachers’ theoretical-practical education from the perspective of the collective systematization of knowledge from experience characterization, questioning, and analysis of the pedagogical practices developed by trainers in undergraduate education programs in various areas with the aim of contributing to the dialogue between teacher-education programs and primary schools in terms of subject and context diversity. Furthermore, the course’s specific objectives are (i) to implement teaching proposals from the perspective of the collective knowledge systematization (research-teaching) of undergraduate education classes from various areas; (ii) characterize, question, and analyze the practices developed with research subjects to systematize guiding principles for initial teacher education; and others. The qualitative approach methodology is a research-teaching modality linked to action-oriented research. In this category, research activities are always associated with teaching and vice versa in teacher-education programs. The activities take place in a single process: the research takes place at the same time as the teaching. A survey of the data necessary for analyzing the object of study is carried out in a methodological action-research process during which research subjects question, analyze, and carry out interventions in their pedagogical practices. At the same time, they contribute to the systematization of new knowledge. (MARTINS, 2009, p. 37) The research field includes higher education institutions that offer undergraduate education programs in various areas. Moreover, the research subjects are undergraduate students of education and teachers and undergraduate program professors.

 

2.2 Educational Paradigms and Teacher/Professor Education

 

The PEFOP research group provides a venue for investigating teachers’ pedagogical practices at various levels and in various contexts. Its participants research teachers’ pedagogical preparation to act innovatively in the classroom. They investigate the construction of benchmarks that support pedagogical practices in professors’ education in undergraduate and graduate programs, focusing on the epistemological, ontological, and methodological processes that comprise the new paradigm, including the following guiding factors: complexity, production of knowledge, transdisciplinarity, and transformative education.

 

Leaders: Marilda Aparecida Behrens, Ph.D., and Patrícia Lupion Torres, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

THE PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION OF TEACHERS WITHIN THE PARADIGM OF COMPLEXITY IN TRANSFORMING EDUCATION: DIGITAL REPOSITORY CO-CREATION

Coordinator: Marilda Aparecida Behrens, Ph.D.

 

This project’s investigation’s theme is encouraging debate and deepening teacher education to prompt a paradigmatic change in teachers’ pedagogical practice based on the “Complexity Theory” (Edgar Morin) and “Transformative Education” (Paulo Freire), in the theoretical and practical fields, with an epistemological, ontological, and methodological focus. This research project involves composing a pedagogical practice proposal focused on knowledge production in a critical, creative, and transformative/transdisciplinary way and, therefore, involves the planning, elaboration, and evaluation of innovative teaching methods. It involves the construction of a “Digital Repository on Complexity in Transformative Education” to support continuing-education processes for teachers who must learn about teaching that embraces a new paradigm. A “Digital Repository” (DR) is understood as a “digital space that adds significant productions generated in the PEFOP research group and other interested groups that may assist teachers in the paradigmatic teaching change.” The open DR will be developed collectively to share constructs regarding complexity and transformative education with researchers, teachers, and other professionals interested in the subject.

 

COMPLEXITY AND TRANSDISCIPLINARITY PARADIGMS AS EPISTEMOLOGICAL PILLARS FOR GENERATING CONSTRUCTS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES IN TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION

Coordinator: Marilda Aparecida Behrens, Ph.D.

 

This project is focused on the constructs, knowledge, and practices that support the paradigm of complexity, transdisciplinarity, and transformative vision as epistemological teaching pillars. Thus, the aim is to provide a venue for students to conduct investigations with teachers who work in areas related to university teachers’ pedagogical training and examine the relevance of proposing their conceptions as epistemological pillars that support transformative teaching. The research is meant to highlight the contributions of experienced Brazilian and Portuguese teachers, particularly those with expertise in university teachers’ pedagogical training, and contribute to sharing the knowledge constructed throughout their academic lives. These pedagogical trainers’ expertise can help students evaluate the relevance of choosing the complexity and transdisciplinarity paradigm as an epistemological teaching stance. Throughout the research, their knowledge production will gradually be made available in “Open Educational Resources” in the digital repository so that it can be shared with other concerned people who can use it in their training interventions.

 

COMPLEXITY, TEACHER EDUCATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Coordinator: Daniele Saheb, Ph.D.

 

This project involves investigating the initial and continuing education of teachers of environmental education at various educational levels. The study of complexity, as supported by Edgar Morin, carries the challenge of being a new way of thinking and, therefore, there are important implications in teacher education for understanding environmental issues and the development of pedagogical practices from this perspective. Following this line of thought, this project involves deepening one’s view of EE (Environmental Education) from a socio-environmental perspective, given the need to reinforce the idea that social and environmental issues are imbricated in its genesis. Understanding such an educational conception is fundamentally vital for teacher education and implies the need to define the premises underpinning the EE teacher-education process based on Morin’s contribution. Another goal is to examine the individual and collective construction of participatory EE methodologies within a qualitative approach regarding action research, allowing significant contributions to the expansion and strengthening of the environmental education field.

 

2.3 Teaching and Learning the Pedagogical Practices Associated with Educational Technologies

 

This research group has, as its central focus, the relationship between pedagogical practice and technology throughout the teaching and learning processes at various levels and in various contexts. Its aim is to provide a venue for students to develop research involving the initial and continuing education of teachers who use media when teaching. Its focus is on theoretical-practical reflections on learning methodologies that contemplate the presence of media resources in formal and non-formal educational environments and includes the creation of pedagogical procedures for promoting inclusive education. It includes investigations into the pedagogical paradigms that support methodological proposals involving educational media, and participants are expected to analyze the impact of the content available on the information network for learning, creating, and evaluating teaching methodologies using such media; developing virtual learning environments; and using educational software.

 

Leaders: Prof. Patrícia Lupion Torres, Ph.D., and Marilda Aparecida Behrens, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE IN FACE-TO-FACE AND DISTANCE EDUCATION AT VARIOUS LEVELS AND IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS: INNOVATIVE LEARNING METHODOLOGIES AND RESOURCES

Coordinator: Patrícia Lupion Torres, Ph.D.

 

The project proposes an investigation aimed at the pedagogical training of university professors and teachers at various levels of education. It is focused on the issue of pedagogical training and designed to assist teachers in reconstructing a teaching-complexity paradigm. This project concerns higher-education teachers and teachers from public and private schools who work in the classroom. The training proposal for online and face-to-face teacher education includes the critical appropriation of technology for teaching and learning. It is believed that this investigation can open new methodological paths in pedagogical practice and broaden the vision of education and the possibilities of social and educational inclusion at various levels and in various contexts.

 

2.4 Learning and Knowledge in Teaching Practice

 

It is believed that, the greater the number of teachers who are aware of their role as educators and researchers, the greater the possibility of experiencing transformative classroom practices that will undoubtedly improve the quality of teaching and learning. This group’s objective is to provide a venue for examining human learning and teacher education. The relevant academic production is expected to include master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, scientific papers, publication of books, and participation in local events.

 

Leaders: Evelise Maria Labatut Portilho, Ph.D., and Daniele Saheb, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE IN CONTINUING EDUCATION

Coordinator: Evelise Maria Labatut Portilho, Ph.D.

 

The results of previous research by this group showed the need for investigations regarding continuing teacher education, focusing on student mobilization for learning research. Thus, the objective of the current research is to promote spaces for intervention in teachers’ continuing education at various levels to reframe their learning as researchers of pedagogical practices, aiming at enhancing student learning from the perspective of transforming a complex educational reality. Thus, participants are expected to understand how early childhood education, primary education, upper secondary education, and higher education understand pedagogical practice and direct it based on the various types of knowledge constructed in initial and continuing education. This research is based on the phenomenological hermeneutic vision and aims to describe and interpret the data according to the following guiding topics: Teacher Professionalization; The Teacher as a Researcher; Learning: Styles and Strategies; Environmental Education; Metacognition; Pedagogical Practice: Strategies and Teaching Styles; The Researcher-Teacher; Teaching: Interfering or Intervening; and The Educational Environment: A Teacher Learning Space.

 

THE CONTINUING TRAINING OF BASIC-EDUCATION TEACHERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Coordinator: Daniele Saheb, Ph.D.

 

This project aims to enable research on the characteristics of teachers’ thoughts and actions regarding students of basic education and environmental issues in the public and private spheres. This investigation favors proposal development and analysis for continuing education, which are considered important means of reframing pedagogical practice in environmental education. The importance of this study mainly concerns two factors. The first is the inclusion of environmental education in the Brazilian curriculum, which was reaffirmed through the National Curriculum Guidelines for EE on June 15, 2012. The second is the need to expand the debate about the quality of EE practices and curricula in basic education. Another aspect that cannot be left out of such reflection concerns educators’ development in relation to the pedagogical work related to EE with a focus on thought construction based on dialogue and the existing interrelationships between humanity and the environment.

 

LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE PEDAGOGUE’S PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY

Coordinator: Evelise Maria Labatut Portilho, Ph.D.

 

The project’s general objective is to enhance the pedagogue’s professional identity in a process involving increasing awareness and self-regulation within a dynamic that, as it is constituted, improves the teacher’s education and transforms daily school life. It will be realized in three areas: 1. promoting continuing education programs for educators working in schools; 2. giving advice to pedagogues on the development of a continuing education program for their schools of origin; and 3. monitoring the development of the continuing education programs in schools.

 

2.5 Creativity and Teaching Innovation in Higher Education (CIDES)

 

The group aims to enable the development of scientific research and allow the production of knowledge about innovation and creativity in teaching and learning practices in higher-education contexts.

 

Leader: Dilmeire Sant’Anna Ramos Vosgerau, Ph.D.

 

Research projects linked to this group:

 

OBSERVA: OBSERVATORY OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY PROCESSES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICES

Coordinator: Dilmeire Sant’Anna Ramos Vosgerau, Ph.D.

 

The research project involves investigation of the teaching and learning processes developed within the university, given the challenges of contemporaneity that require novel answers, and its aim is to improve the practices of students, teachers, and university spaces. Therefore, the research comprises projects concerning new methodological strategies proposed and undertaken in the classroom by teachers and initiatives focused on developing skills and abilities that are intended to result in more autonomy and meaningful learning by the education student.

International Association of French-Speaking Sociologists (Association internationale des sociologues de langue française (AISLF)) (Commité de Recherche)

Conducting joint research and publishing books and journals with a group composed of representatives from Brazil, Portugal, Belgium, France, Canada, Switzerland, and Tunisia.

UNESCO Chair for Youth, Education, and Society; Observation of Violence in Schools: Brazil

Conducting research and becoming involved in publications with researchers from several universities in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, France, Canada, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile and expanding international research, teaching, and extension networks.

International Center of Studies on Social Representations and Subjectivity-Education of the Carlos Chagas Foundation (Centro Internacional de Estudos em Representações Sociais, Subjetividade e Educação da Fundação Carlos Chagas/São Paulo), Brazil

Conducting joint research projects and facilitating exchanges between national and international research groups, forming partnerships for book publication, and organizing conferences.

College of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Geneva (Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de L’Éducation de L’Université de Genève), Switzerland

Facilitating faculty exchange and research conferences.

CAPES-COFECUB Project: Academy of Limoges (Académie de Limoges), France

Facilitating faculty exchange and research conferences. The aim is to locate, catalog, and analyze sources not yet available in digital collections with the goal of supporting historical-comparative studies of elementary mathematical knowledge.

RIPEFOR: Interinstitutional Network of Teacher Education and Practices Research (Rede Interinstitucional de Pesquisas de Formação e Práticas Docentes)

Hosting a research group exchange and scientific meetings. This network includes the PUCPR, UNIVILLE, UTFPR, UFPEL, UFSC, FURB, UEPG, and UNINTER.

University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra), Portugal

Hosting a research group exchange and scientific meetings. The following institutions are part of this network: the UTP, FPCEUC, UECE, FLUC, UERJ, UFRN, PUCPR, UNIT, UFRN, and FPCEUC.

University of Fribourg (Université de Fribourg), Switzerland

Hosting an exchange involving professors/researchers, doctoral students, master’s students, undergraduate students, and professors/researchers from the Université de Friborg in the context of a PPGE/PUCPR research group and involving researchers from this university in a research group at the Université de Fribourg.

University of Geneva (Université de Genève), Switzerland

Hosting an exchange involving professors/researchers, doctoral students, master’s students, undergraduate students, and professors/researchers from the Université de Genève in the context of a PPGE/PUCPR research group and involving researchers from the PUCPR in a research group at Unigenève.

University of Lisbon (Universidade de Lisboa), Portugal

Hosting an exchange involving professors and conferences with researchers.

University of Minho (Universidade do Minho: Braga), Portugal

Participating in a research group on teacher education and technology and facilitating publication with researchers.

NOVA University from Lisboa (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa), Portugal

Examining research methodology in the context of international comparative analysis with researchers and facilitating the exchange of students and teachers.

International University of La Rioja (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja), Spain

Engaging in a research partnership involving the research group Educación Personalizada en la Era Digital (EPEDIG).

Double Degree

According to an agreement with Université Catholique de L’Ouest: Angers (France), the Doctorat en Éducation, Carriérologie, et Ethique is offered with the objective of training researchers to become aware of the educational problems of the countries involved and facilitate their contributions to the production and democratization of knowledge about the history, educational policies, and theories and practices of teacher education. This agreement provides for the reception of French teachers and students at the PPGE/PUCPR, visits to Angers (FR) by Brazilian teachers and students, and cooperation regarding joint publications and the provision of a double degree.

• HISTORY, MEMORY, AND TEACHER EDUCATION
• GUARANTEEING RIGHTS IN CHILDREN’S EVERYDAY LIVES: POLITICAL AND CURRICULAR INTERFACES REGARDING THE HUMAN RIGHT TO INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION
• EDUCATION, RELIGIONS, AND CULTURES
• CATHOLIC INTELLECTUALS IN THE PUBLIC SCENE OF PARANÁ: PATHS OF LEGITIMATION AND WAYS OF DOING GIVEN THE FEMALE CONDITION (1920–1980)
• TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY CONTEXT
• EDUCATIONAL POLICIES, TEACHER EDUCATION, AND SCHOOL EDUCATION
• EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL POLICIES
• PUBLIC POLICIES FOR YOUTH: EDUCATION AND WORK
• THE LITERACY OF YOUNG PEOPLE, ADULTS, AND CHILDREN IN PRIMARY EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF THE THEORY AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE OF PESTALOZZI AND FREIRE: A MATTER OF METHOD?
• THE HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND POLITICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF THEORY AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE IN PAULO FREIRE’S WORK: THE EDUCATOR AS AN INTELLECTUAL
• TEACHER-EDUCATION POLICIES: SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF INSERTION, TEACHING WORK, AND PROFESSIONALIZATION IN THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
• TEACHER EDUCATION FOR RURAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN PARANÁ (1970–1990)
• THE TRAINING OF MANAGERS AT PARANÁ EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
• ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF COMPLEXITY AND TRANSDISCIPLINARITY: A CONTRIBUTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION TEACHING PRACTICE
• EDUCATION AND TEACHING PRACTICE IN LIGHT OF COMPLEXITY
• PEDAGOGICAL SCENARIOS FOR INTEGRATING ICT INTO TEACHER EDUCATION: CRE@TIVITY
• OBSERVA: OBSERVATORY OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY PROCESSES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICES
• LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE IN CONTINUING EDUCATION
• LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE IN TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES
• COMPLEXITY AND TRANSDISCIPLINARITY PARADIGMS AS EPISTEMOLOGICAL PILLARS FOR GENERATING CONSTRUCTS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES IN TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION
• EPISTEMOLOGICAL PILLARS IN TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATION: CONSTRUCTS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES FROM THE COMPLEXITY PARADIGM
• PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE IN FACE-TO-FACE AND DISTANCE EDUCATION: INNOVATIVE LEARNING METHODOLOGIES AND RESOURCES
• UNIVERSITY AND BASIC EDUCATION: THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS THROUGH COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMATIZATION