POLÍTICAS DE EXPANSÃO DOS CURSOS DE PEDAGOGIA: UMA ANÁLISE DA QUALIDADE DA OFERTA NA EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA NO BRASIL (2001-2023)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the expansion of distance-learning Pedagogy courses in Brazil between 2001 and 2023 and its relationship with public policies for assessing the quality of higher education. It is assumed that simply expanding the offer does not, in itself, ensure democratization of access; it is necessary to guarantee teacher training with socially referenced quality. The central research question is to understand how this expansion developed and how the regulatory and evaluation instruments, defined by the National Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes), contributed or not to ensuring the quality of these courses. The research adopts the method of historical and dialectical materialism and a qualitativequantitative approach (Creswell; Creswell, 2021). To this end, three methodological stages were carried out: 1) bibliographic and documentary review; 2) survey of aggregated data from the Higher Education Census and IACG course evaluation indicators (CC, Enade, CPC and IDD); 3) Treatment and analysis of results. The data reveal that the expansion of distance learning, initially concentrated in the public sector, has become marked by the centrality of private institutions, especially colleges (non-university HEIs), coupled with a growth model based on mass offerings, cost reductions, and flexible teaching relationships. Despite advances in state-sponsored evaluation mechanisms, limitations were observed in one of the indicators used, the CPC, as it does not fully address the specificities of distance learning, such as the role of tutors. Furthermore, the results indicate that Pedagogy courses, especially those offered in the distance learning modality at private HEIs, are far from meeting the quality standards expected by the Brazilian government. Although the results of the on-site evaluation expressed by the Course Concept (CC) are positive, as 54% of the courses evaluated obtained a Concept 4, the results of the other quality indicators (Enade, CPC, IDD) pointed only to a logic of conformity, without effectively representing the consolidation of a quality education. The study of the "teaching" dimension of the CPC revealed profound asymmetries between the public and private sectors and between modalities, especially regarding teaching qualifications, work regimes, and the student/teacher ratio, which are structuring components of quality assessment. Based on the interpretation of the results of the Pedagogy course evaluation indicators, it is concluded that: a) The expansion of offerings through distance learning did not effectively guarantee the democratization of access to higher education, since this process was linked to the logic of commodification, with a predominance of private institutions and weaknesses in the conditions of provision; b) The results of the "faculty" dimension of the CPC revealed profound inequalities between public and private institutions and between in-person and distance learning modalities, with regard to qualifications, work regime and student/teacher ratio, demonstrating a better teaching structure in public institutions and in in-person courses, in contrast to the pedagogy courses at private HEIs and in the distance learning modality. c) The centrality of enrollments in Distance Education Pedagogy courses in 2021 in large financialized educational conglomerates, associated with Preliminary Course Concepts (CPC) that were mostly only satisfactory, points to an expansion model sustained by market interests, which prioritizes profit over the quality of education; d) The State, by allowing this form of expansion of Distance Education Pedagogy courses, has shown itself to be linked to a neoliberal logic, guided by the flexibilization of educational policies, prioritizing increased access to higher education via the private sector, without due correspondence with the guarantee of quality in teacher training.