Políticas neoliberais e educação superior privada lucrativa no Brasil : implicações para o trabalho docente

Abstract

The evolution of the Brazilian higher education network is associated with the implementation by the government of legislation and programs with a diversification and differentiation policy, reconfiguring the higher education system, associating the principles of flexibility, competitiveness and evaluation, aligned with the agenda neoliberal hegemonically imposed in recent decades. The aim of this research is to identify and analyze the implications for the teaching work in private institutions of higher education for profit purposes in the economic model and higher education policies adopted by Brazil in the recent decades, markedly aligned with the neoliberal principles. The study is constituted of theoretical thesis, developed from documentary and bibliographic research structured in a qualitative approach. The principles of historical dialectical materialism are the guiding methodology. The results reveal that the Brazilian history of educational policies in higher education guarantees and sustains the profits of capitalists who invest in the business of higher education - which should be a duty of the State has become a privilege granted by the State to capitalists. The 1988 Federal Constitution and the 1996 National Education Guidelines and Bases Law provided a favorable business environment for the expansion of private higher education. The governments of the last decades have contributed to the expansion of the commercialization of higher education through educational credit; loans and financing at low interest rates by banking institutions and the University for All Program. Survey data indicate that hourly and part-time teachers represent 81% of the workforce in private colleges, which represents 87% of total private institutions. With this large contingent of teachers who do not work full time, it can be inferred that teaching is restricted, considered a complementary professional activity, compromising the identity of this professional since it is not centered on its professional conditions, it has become a ¿side hustle¿ activity. Precarious conditions of teaching work found in several private institutions of higher education in terms of profit, physical, psychological and financial conditions, constitute a logical evidence of the devaluation of the teacher's professional identity, with no incentive for exclusive dedication to teaching. The lack of characterization of the teacher's professional identity comes from the combination of several negative factors that empty the teaching work, making the teacher not feel like a professional, since he does not see an ontological sense in the execution of his work. In this context, what can be called a teacher-instructor appears as a new concept. Instructor is the one who transmits knowledge, teaches content in a pragmatic way, with an emphasis on professional practice, not always presenting pedagogical awareness, has a precarious professional identity. Finally, this thesis verifies that when enrollments in higher education increase, the hiring of teachers also increases, and they are more certified, more qualified, but earn less. Thus, the higher education market is quite profitable, as there is demand and the costs of production, mainly teachers' remuneration, are falling.