History

Among the issues that stand out as central in the context of Brazilian education, teacher training is one of them, which is why, historically, it has been a broad field of debate and research, resulting in the systematization of public policies, programs, proposals for government and technical-scientific productions. Supporting the emphasis on this theme and pointing out directions to cope with the demands involved, it is worth remembering the following quote from the GT08 Teacher Training (ANPEd, 2013): “In the period 1992-1993, the idea of reconfiguring the GT Teacher’s Degree, with the purpose of reaching a clearer outline of another theoretical-methodological identity was suggested (…) It was then confirmed that the course of the research about the then GT Teacher’s Degree  changed to focus on the search for the articulation of studies which involved training, work and teacher identity.

As a cause of the confirmation of the change in reality in the field of research, it was decided that the name GT would be modified, now called Teacher Training. With this broader and more flexible title, it can be understood as a global objective of the research field in teacher training to study the process of building, developing and deepening the knowledge and skills necessary for the development of the teaching profession, its impacts and results. “The re-dimensioning of the focus and the scope of research in the field of teacher education, highlighted by the above quote, reaffirms the need to verticalize the production of knowledge that considers the challenges currently posed in the educational context.

In this sense, the need to implement research that addresses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), more specifically, the conceptualizations and uses established by teachers and students becomes evident. These conceptualizations and uses are related to ICT resources, in the processes of teaching learning, both in face-to-face education and in distance education. However, if, in the last few decades, we can follow the growth of the use of new technologies in education, such growth does not correspond proportionately, to the development of research which is necessary for such resources to impact on the improvement of the education quality in Brazil.

RESEARCH LINES

The Professional Masters in Education and New Technologies has been formed by a Research Line and three Working Groups, which cover the Projects developed by the teachers according to their specificities.

Teacher Training and New Technologies in Education

Description: To investigate the initial and continuous formation of the different levels and categories of education, referenced by the socio-political, historical and cultural relations aimed to achieve the teaching profession. The identity of the teacher will be constructed through the course of formation, including the production of knowledge and the teacher learning and professional development. The themes that will be addressed in teacher training involve challenges that include the teachers’ initial training, their attitudes, action and interactions with the styles of new knowledge. To investigate the influence of New Technologies on the teaching-learning relationship, both as a support for established procedures and as a design of innovative processes, aiming at the acquisition and reinvention of unique skills during their professional training. It also includes the elaboration of innovative platforms and models in education, based on the New Technologies in ICT.

OBJECTIVES

General

To train and qualify professionals for teaching in Basic Education and Higher Education, who are committed to the process of the transformation of Brazilian society, and who can articulate academic knowledge, research and educational practices, in the production and diffusion of new knowledge related to teacher education and new technologies.

Specific

To contribute to the training of educational professionals so that they are able to perform critical analysis in the educational context of contemporary society and act in the transformation of the social fabric in which they are inserted;
To train professionals and faculty researchers to act in teaching, research and extension, with the mastery of scientific research processes;
To develop a critical perspective of teaching, so that the masters students can analyze the discourses, produce knowledge and elaborate on new methods and educational practices;
To train teachers to systematically work in basic and higher education, aiming at the development of studies related to the educational problems of the contemporary world;
To ensure the articulation of teaching and research with the Brazilian educational and institutional contexts and issues;
To Produce knowledge in a face-to-face university environment, which may enable the permanent training and qualification of graduates from the Southern region and at a more national level;
To establish integration between the areas of science that participate in the production of knowledge related to the educational field, based on the elaboration of multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, using the principles of social responsibility and in accordance with ethical principles;
To promote the production and diffusion of academic knowledge, related to education and the use of technologies.