A docência no Ensino Superior: perspectivas e imagens

Abstract

This paper presents part of a study on teaching developed with university teachers in the Federal University of RN (UFRN). Research in higher education is an instigating subject. Papers by Leite (1998), Cunha (2001), Morosini (2001), INEP (2004), Zabalza (2004), Teichler (2007), Bettencourt-Pires (2007), Garcia Ruiz (2008) and Brütten (2008) explain under different approaches, the relevant issue. It is well known that teachers play a relevant role in the social and institutional field. However, empirical studies on the thinking of higher education teachers are scarce, even though they are a part of a very intensive intellectual field that is diverse and sometimes unquestioned. When accessing the interview’s data, previous findings were considered, in order to develop a complementary approach concerning pedagogical preparation for teaching at the university, personal attributes and expectations required for teaching higher education and strategies used with students. On this study 18 teachers from different courses were interviewed, corresponding to 1% of the total faculty of the institution. Research is carried out as a qualitative approach and interpersonal perspective, to situate ourselves in an epistemology perspective of teaching with humanistic and introspective view. Findings allow us to highlight some critical issues that permeate higher education and are present in the experiences of teachers. These issues can easily be generalized to other institutions. The demand for intellectual productivity and generation of knowledge is not always accompanied by an authentic creation of knowledge. An exacerbated bureaucratization linked to the actions of all academic bodies, the neglect of relevant procedures for the training of students and the construction and / or strengthening of teacher identity, among other things from academic experience, are the genesis of a climate of embarrassment and awkward situation among teachers.