"PRINCÍPIOS FORMATIVOS DA LICENCIATURA EM EDUCAÇÃO DO CAMPO: POTENCIALIDADES E CONTRADIÇÕES NA FORMAÇÃO INICIAL

Abstract

This research is linked to the research line “Formative Processes, Educational Practices, and Differences” and focuses on the initial training of teachers in the Rural Education Degree Program (Licenciatura em Educação do Campo) at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). The general objective is to analyze the principles that guide the appropriation of theoretical and scientific knowledge in the formative processes of this degree program, based on the analysis of the course project (PPC), highlighting its potentialities and contradictions in debates about initial teacher education. The central problem seeks to understand the impacts (possibilities and contradictions) present in the formative processes of the degree, as conceived and presented in its Pedagogical Political Project, considering its origin and restructuring. To this end, the study consists of a bibliographic research grounded in historical- cultural theory and based on historical-dialectical materialism. As methodological procedures, a documentary analysis was conducted using the PPCs from 2014–2018 and 2018–2022 of the aforementioned degree program. The study considers that there are contradictions that reveal issues previously conceived and implemented, but which regressed due to the implications of public policies (BNCC, BNC-Formação) and diverse interpretations that have impacted and continue to impact the mischaracterization of the program, given the divergence of principles and foundations from those guiding the struggle for Rural Education. The exclusion of the Humanities and Social Sciences area, which encompassed disciplines such as History, Geography, and Sociology—subjects that engaged with historical, political, social, and educational tensions—resulted in losses for students’ education. On the other hand, certain potentialities were identified, such as the implementation of alternating training activities connected to practices developed within students’ home communities. Another strength lies in the increase of the program’s workload, allowing for the inclusion of courses that promote political education grounded in inclusive and democratic issues, such as Ethnic-Racial Relations Education, Special Education, Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) Studies, and Educational Policies, whether as standalone courses or transversally throughout the curriculum. In this sense, it is understood that the elaboration of a PPC reflects the intentions of the management and teaching staff regarding their conceptions of the human being, society, university, politics, and social practice. Consequently, it shapes the political and social formation of future rural school teachers. However, this process encounters obstacles imposed by public policies that introduce neoliberal conceptions into teacher education programs—concepts that run counter to the principles and formative foundations of Rural Education.