Políticas educacionais e formação de professoras/es para a Educação Infantil [recurso eletrônico] : impactos que refletem avanços ou retrocessos?

Abstract

This study examines the advance of educational neoliberalism in public policies enacted in the post-2016 coup period to the present, with a particular focus on how these policies have shaped and affected the continuing education of Early Childhood Education teachers. The study is guided by the following research question: what tensions, contradictions, and possibilities have shaped teacher training policies and practices in Early Childhood Education amid the neoliberal advance in national education, particularly in the post-2016 coup period? It consists of a literature review that seeks to identify and analyze the legal frameworks of public policies directed toward Early Childhood Education. In this regard, the study examines theses and dissertations available in the Capes Theses and Dissertations Database, as well as articles published on the SciELO Platform. In addition, papers available on the ANPEd and ANFOPE websites were also consulted. The aim is to identify and analyze elements that characterize both advances and setbacks in educational policies directed toward Early Childhood Education, with particular emphasis on the pedagogical and didactic guidelines that underpin the continuing education of teachers in this educational modality. The study is grounded in in-depth bibliographic research drawing on Paulo Freire’s theoretical framework (1979; 1987; 1993; 1994; 1997; 2001; 2002; 2004; 2009; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2019) and its core principles: dialogicity, critical thinking, and autonomy. Furthermore, it addresses issues related to Early Childhood Education policies, drawing on the contributions of Abuchaim (2018), as well as discussions on pedagogical practices and teaching knowledge, based on the works Tardif (2002), Abdalla (2006; 2008; 2015; 2016; 2020; 2021), and Moreira and Candau (2008), among others. The study was developed through the following methodological steps: 1st literature review; 2nd meta-synthesis approach and its phases, and 3rd use of content analysis techniques. Content analysis was conducted based on Laurence Bardin (1977) and the previously mentioned theoretical and methodological frameworks, resulting in two analytical dimensions, as outlined below: First dimension – Teacher training for Early Childhood Education, which develops the analytical category “Perspectives of Paulo Freire” and its respective units of meaning; and Second dimension – Public policies for Early Childhood Education, which examines the category “Effects of educational neoliberalism” and its corresponding units of meaning. Among the main findings, the following stand out from the perspective of Paulo Freire: a) Liberating education must be oriented toward humanization; b) Education should consistently promote the practice of freedom; c) Pedagogical practice should be guided by a problem-posing approach, which constitutes the path toward the development of critical consciousness; d) The production of new knowledge is not possible without autonomy; e) Within dialogicity, pedagogical work requires attentive listening to children, recognition of their multiple languages, and appreciation of their knowledge; f) Teacher education policies grounded in technocratic logic tend to inhibit the development of critical thinking by prioritizing the reproduction of standardized content, methods, and assessment practices; g) Autonomy is an achievement constructed through reflective practice and ethical responsibility, developed collectively with students rather than in isolation by the teacher. Regarding the effects of educational neoliberalism, the study indicates that: a) current teacher training policies are aligned with processes of dehumanization; b) policies have become increasingly centralized and standardized, prioritizing efficiency and meritocracy; c) there has been a rupture and restructuring of Pedagogy degree programs; d) public–private partnerships are not neutral, as they carry an educational conception aligned with the demands of capital, shifting teacher education from an emancipatory project toward an instrumental and adaptive logic; e) these policies generate significant impacts on teachers’ professional identity, producing processes of fragmentation, alienation of work, and precarious working conditions; f) the curricular tensions identified in the analyzed documents and academic productions—especially those related to the BNCC, to BNCFormação, and to BNC-Formação Continuada—reveal a movement toward normative centralization that restricts the decision-making autonomy of teachers and teacher education institutions; g) such processes weaken teacher autonomy and compromise the conditions for a critical and reflective pedagogical practice, particularly in Early Childhood Education, a stage historically marked by disputes over its social function, and h) ultimately, producing new knowledge is not feasible without autonomy. Ultimately, it is hoped that this study will contribute to the continuing education of teachers who develop their teaching and pedagogical practices in Early Childhood Education.