THE TRAINING COURSE FOR UNIVERSITY TEACHERS: TRAINING AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE

REFLEXÕES SOBRE O LUGAR DOS FACILITADORES NA EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been an expansion in access to higher education in Brazil. The high demand for distance learning undergraduate courses highlights new ways of accessing higher education and new institutional arrangements in teaching and learning processes. In the context of distance education, the pedagogical work carried out by facilitators becomes important in the students' learning process. This study aims to analyze the perceptions of facilitators about the pedagogical experiences lived in the continuing education of higher education teachers at UNIVESP. The research is qualitative and used a virtual questionnaire for data collection during the first semester of 2023. The research participants recognize the experience of being a facilitator as important in their professional formation, but perceive the practice as an ambiguous task due to the combination of teaching and non-teaching functions. Although not institutionally considered as such, most facilitators see themselves as teachers. The majority of facilitators acknowledge that the student should be at the center of the learning process, however, in practical terms, it is not always possible to exercise dialogic mediation. Regarding the training course undertaken by the facilitators, some see it as an initial approach to pedagogical work. For others, the training is merely a source of income. Other facilitators view the training as an important pedagogical experience in their career but point out limitations. Thus, there is a complexity in the facilitator's role, and the existing difficulties in pedagogical practice demand greater recognition of these facilitators' pedagogical work.