Uma análise da Gestão Educacional em um Curso de Pedagogia público
An Analysis of Educational Management in a Public Pedagogy Program
Análisis de la Gestión Educativa en un Curso de Pedagogía Público
Graziella
de Camargo da Costa
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria – RS, Brazil.
graziella.camargo@acad.ufsm.br
Débora
Ortiz de Leão
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria – RS, Brazil.
Liliana
Soares Ferreira
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria – RS, Brazil.
Received: April 09, 2026
Accepted: May 21, 2026
Published: May 22, 2026
RESUMO
Aborda-se estudo que objetivou a análise das políticas educacionais e da entrevista com gestores de um Curso de Pedagogia, ofertado por uma universidade do interior do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os gestores realizaram seu trabalho pedagógico no período entre 2006, quando foram publicadas as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os Cursos de Pedagogia no Brasil, Resolução CNE/CP n. 01, de 15 de maio de 2006, até a publicação da Resolução CNE/CP n. 04, de 29 de maio de 2024, que dispôs sobre as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para a formação inicial em nível superior de Profissionais do Magistério da Educação Escolar Básica. As promulgações dessas políticas educacionais foram selecionadas como eventos limítrofes por incidirem sobre os cursos de Pedagogia no Brasil. Por sua vez, as entrevistas propiciaram adentrar na cultura pedagógica própria do lócus da pesquisa. Como fundamento teórico-metodológico, adotou-se a Análise dos Movimentos de Sentidos (AMS), que estuda os discursos e, neles, como se articulam os sentidos, em sua instabilidade, considerando a historicidade e as mediações, dentro da sociedade capitalista contemporânea. Os discursos das(os) participantes revelaram sentidos, enfatizando que a coordenação do curso, essencial na articulação pedagógica e administrativa, ainda carece de maior apoio institucional, processos educativos e condições adequadas para seu trabalho pedagógico, objetivando uma gestão educacional democrática.
Palavras-chave: Gestão Educacional; Pedagogia; Políticas Educacionais; Trabalho Pedagógico.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to analyze educational policies and interviews with managers of a Pedagogy program offered by a university in a smaller city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The managers carried out their pedagogical work between 2006, when the National Curriculum Guidelines for Pedagogy Programs in Brazil were published (Resolution CNE/CP No. 01, dated May 15, 2006), and the publication of Resolution CNE/CP No. 04, dated May 29, 2024, which established the National Curriculum Guidelines for initial higher education training for Basic School Education Teaching Professionals. The promulgation of these educational policies was selected as a boundary event because they directly impacted Pedagogy programs across Brazil. In turn, the interviews provided insight into the pedagogical culture specific to the research locus. As a theoretical and methodological foundation, the Analysis of Meaning Movements (Análise dos Movimentos de Sentidos – AMS) was adopted, which studies discourses and how meanings are articulated within them, in their instability, considering historicity and mediations within contemporary capitalist society. The participants’ discourses revealed meanings, emphasizing that course coordination, essential to pedagogical and administrative articulation, still lacks greater institutional support, adequate educational processes, and appropriate conditions for its pedagogical work, with a view toward democratic educational management.
Keywords: Educational Management; Pedagogy; Educational Policies; Pedagogical Work.
RESUMEN
Este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar las políticas educativas y las entrevistas realizadas a los responsables de un curso de Pedagogía impartido por una universidad del interior del estado de Rio Grande do Sul. Los responsables desarrollaron su labor pedagógica entre 2006, fecha de publicación de las Directrices Curriculares Nacionales para los Cursos de Pedagogía en Brasil Resolución CNE/CP nº 01, de 15 de mayo de 2006, y la publicación de la Resolución CNE/CP nº 04, del 29 de mayo de 2024, que estableció las Directrices Curriculares Nacionales para la formación inicial de maestros de educación básica. La promulgación de estas políticas educativas se seleccionó como un evento clave debido a su impacto en los cursos de Pedagogía en Brasil. A su vez, las entrevistas proporcionaron información sobre la cultura pedagógica específica del contexto de la investigación. Como fundamento teórico y metodológico, se adoptó el Análisis de Movimientos de Significado (AMS), que estudia los discursos y, dentro de ellos, cómo se articulan los significados, en su inestabilidad, considerando la historicidad y las mediaciones, dentro de la sociedad capitalista contemporánea. Los discursos de los participantes revelaron significados que enfatizan que la coordinación curricular, esencial para la articulación pedagógica y administrativa, aún carece de mayor apoyo institucional, procesos educativos adecuados y condiciones idóneas para el desarrollo de su labor pedagógica, con miras a una gestión educativa democrática.
Palabras clave: Gestión educativa; Pedagogía; Políticas educativas; Labor pedagógica.
Introduction
The observation that Work, Educational Management, and the Pedagogy Program are not always treated in close connection to one another, yet, upon analysis, prove to be interlinked both conceptually and in the daily life of educational institutions, motivated the study systematized here. With this spirit of inquiry, the research examined the points of convergence and the weaknesses pertaining to this theme, taking as its empirical field a Pedagogy program offered by a federal public institution located in a smaller city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The program, which has existed since 1969, was not analyzed in itself; rather, it was considered in light of the social, cultural, and political aspects that make it representative of the broader set of Pedagogy programs in the country.
The study was grounded in the analysis of educational policies and interviews with managers of the Program, covering the period from 2006, when the National Curriculum Guidelines for Pedagogy Programs in Brazil were published (Resolution CNE/CP No. 01, dated May 15, 2006), to the publication of Resolution CNE/CP No. 04, dated May 29, 2024, which established the National Curriculum Guidelines for initial higher education training for Basic School Education Teaching Professionals. These policies were selected as boundary events because they directly impacted Pedagogy programs in Brazil. The interviews, in turn, provided access to the pedagogical culture specific to the research locus. As a theoretical and methodological foundation, the Analysis of Meaning Movements (Análise dos Movimentos de Sentidos – AMS) was adopted, which studies discourses and how meanings are articulated within them, in their instability, considering their historicity and the mediations with the theoretical framework throughout the study. Together, these theoretical and methodological choices enabled a reading of the phenomenon grounded in educational policies and in the discourses of the subject managers.
Regarding the theme, the study proceeded from the assumption that Educational Management encompasses and is situated at the mediation of totality, that is, capitalist society, which includes teachers, students, infrastructure, and all other aspects that permeate the daily life of institutions. As such, it was included among the curricular requirements for Pedagogy programs in the country through the publication of Resolution CNE/CP No. 01, dated May 15, 2006. As a consequence, management, as a process, became a curricular component of the Program, which will graduate future educators. Thus, this article, in systematizing the study, aims to present an analysis of the points of convergence and the weaknesses relating to the theme of Educational Management, as evidenced in the discourses of educational managers of the Pedagogy program under study, in the period from 2006 to 2024.
What follows is organized as follows: first, the theoretical and methodological foundations are presented; next, a historical account of the Pedagogy Program and the concept of Educational Management is offered; the analysis and discussion of the produced data then follow; and, finally, closing remarks are provided, with the aim of weaving together the analyses and bringing the text to a conclusion.
Theoretical and Methodological Contributions
The Analysis of Meaning Movements was adopted as the theoretical and methodological framework. The AMS makes it possible to understand, in view of social totality, the meanings attributed by subjects to the object of study. For this reason,
[...] it aims to study, considering social totality, in an investigative process that moves from the particular to the general and from the general to the specific, analyzing, at every moment, the meanings evidenced in relation to the phenomena (Braido, et al, 2023, p. 9).[1]
Data production techniques included: a) bibliographic research, from the selection of authors and works, systematic reading, synthesis, and comparison of meanings; b) documentary analysis, comparing the meanings of management found in educational policies; c) interviews with program managers during the period under study, conducted via a form sent through Google Forms. The form contained six open-ended questions: the first three concerned academic background, and the last three addressed specific aspects of the theme, namely successes, difficulties, and highlights. The form thus included questions related to initial training and a description of some characteristics of the management period experienced. The data produced were analyzed through comparison, interpretation, and synthesis of meanings, followed by systematization and the drafting of this text. All participants were informed about the non-disclosure of personal data, and their responses were anonymized using pseudonyms, for example P1–P5, corresponding to Professor 1 through Professor 5, respectively.
Five coordinators active during the defined period responded to the research, four women and one man, all of whom worked in the management of the program between 2006 and 2024. Their responses were organized into tables so that they could be compared and analyzed, ensuring visual organization and facilitating the comparison. All coordinators received an invitation by email and through direct contact from the researchers. However, only these five agreed to participate as research interlocutors.
Regarding the academic background of the interlocutors, four had completed a degree in Pedagogy (that is, the same program they had also managed) and one had a degree in Geography. In addition, variation in the complementary training of the coordinators was evident. Some had completed specializations in Environmental Education, in Literatures in the Portuguese Language, and in Pedagogical Innovation. As for stricto sensu graduate education, half had completed a Master’s degree in Education, and all shared one common feature: they had all completed a Doctorate in Education. Details about this academic background are set out in the table below.
Table 1: Academic background of the interlocutors
|
Academic Background |
|
P1: Undergraduate teaching degree (licenciatura[2]) in Geography; Specialization in Institutional Psychopedagogy; Master’s degree in Education; Doctorate in Education. |
|
P2: Undergraduate teaching degree (licenciatura) in Geology and Pedagogy; Specialization in Environmental Education; Master’s degree in Rural Extension, in the field of rural extension and development; Doctorate in Education, with a thematic focus on training policies, education policy and management. |
|
P3: Undergraduate teaching degree (licenciatura) in Pedagogy and Letters; Specialization in Literatures in the Portuguese Language; Master’s degree in Science Education; Doctorate in Education. |
|
P4: Undergraduate teaching degree (licenciatura) in Pedagogy; Master’s degree in Teaching; Doctorate in Education; Post-Doctorate in Pedagogical Innovation. |
|
P5: Undergraduate teaching degree (licenciatura) in Pedagogy; Master’s degree and Doctorate in Education. |
Source: Responses of the interlocutors in the form prepared by Costa; Leão; Ferreira, 2025.
The main information about the academic background of the research participants is set out in the table above, indicating that they are subjects who are highly prepared academically for the role of program managers.
The analysis followed the stages of the AMS: 1) full reading of the responses for an initial overview of the meanings; 2) coding of the meanings; 3) grouping of the meanings; 4) refinement of what had been produced. These procedures were repeated as many times as necessary to visualize the movements of meanings within the discourses and between the discourses. To this end, the researchers drew on instruments of their own choosing, such as tables, graphs, and discourse excerpts. These instruments are not presented in the text, as they are understood as preliminary to the systematization and, therefore, to the argumentation. The goal was to analyze how the discourses, in response to the interview questions, organized themselves around the set of meanings that compose them. The researchers thus immersed themselves in these meanings, observing their movements, that is, approximations, disintegrations, and divergences.
The analyses were then systematized, delimiting the evidenced meanings and, from these, composing the arguments presented below.
A historical context of the Pedagogy Program and educational management: points of convergences
The Pedagogy Program has not yet reached its centenary in Brazil. Its establishment took place in 1939, alongside the creation of the National Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters (Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras), by Decree-Law No. 1,190. Within that faculty, sections of Philosophy, Letters, Sciences, and Pedagogy were inaugurated, in addition to a special section of Didactics. The programs offered by these sections were bachelor’s degrees lasting three years, with the possibility of obtaining a teaching licensure by completing one additional year in the Didactics section. During the first five decades of the twentieth century, what was then called "Educational Administration", from a scientific management perspective, was configured as “[…] a hierarchical school administration structure that requires of the director expertise in several areas, such as: financial management, human resources, assets, and pedagogy” (Bitar; Vicente, 2020, p. 404)[3]. Accordingly, educational administration of the Program was established according to control parameters, bureaucratization, curriculum determination, and teacher and student oversight, thus inhibiting autonomy. In the field of graduate education, debates on this topic were prominent enough that the National Association of School Administration Professors (Associação Nacional de Professores da Administração Escolar – ANPAE)[I], was established in 1961.
Concurrently, following the midpoint of that century, with regard to the Pedagogy Program, Opinion No. 251 of 1962 was enacted, signed by Federal Council of Education member Valnir Chagas[II]. The changes enabled by this official document affected the curriculum of Pedagogy programs, shaping them into a licensure aimed at training “[...] the teacher of pedagogical subjects in the normal school [...] the technical specialist in Education as the professional to be trained through the bachelor’s degree” (Silva, 1999, p. 64).
From the 1970s onward, Educational Administration and Educational Management began to coexist, until, in the following decade, the latter replaced the former and was mentioned in the Federal Constitution of 1988. In Chapter III: On Education, Culture, and Sport, Section I, On Education, Article 206, which sets out the principles governing education, item VI states: “democratic management of educational institutions, in the form of the law” (Brazil, 1988, art. 206, item VI). In other passages of the Constitution, the term "management" appears twenty times, mainly in reference to public services.
This shift in nomenclature occurred due to the adoption of democratic characteristics, such as the inclusion of the community in everyday decisions, demonstrating an evolution in the approaches to this theme, the growth of scientific research in graduate education, and international support for Education. The goal was not merely to replace the expression “Educational Administration” with “Educational Management”, but to establish a conception that made sense for the social moment, shaped by neoliberalism, which championed entrepreneurship and production in the Toyotist model.
It was thus assumed that this shift aimed to transcend the limits imposed by administration, and, as Lück (2006) highlights, management does not replace but rather supersedes the former, through the articulation of more consistent actions that, taken together, denote participatory work. As such, this was not merely a shift in focus, but fundamentally a reconceptualization of management, which resides in the
[...] dynamic mobilization of the human element, its energy and talent, collectively organized, as a basic and fundamental condition for the quality of teaching and the transformation of the identity of schools, education systems, and Brazilian education (Lück, 2009, p. 27).[4]
As a consequence, the change in nomenclature required differentiated characteristics of the manager, such as an in-depth knowledge of the educational system and the ongoing development of best practices for carrying out the work, in view of everyday challenges. Educational Management thus came to correspond to
[...] the process of managing the dynamics of education systems as a whole and of coordinating schools in particular, aligned with public educational guidelines and policies, for the implementation of educational policies and pedagogical projects, committed to the principles of democracy and to methods that organize and create conditions for an autonomous educational environment (with its own solutions within the scope of its competencies) characterized by participation and sharing (joint decision-making and the delivery of results), self-monitoring (follow-up and assessment with feedback), and transparency (public disclosure of its processes and outcomes) (Lück, 2009, p. 35-36).[5]
The attributions outlined above, at the school level, require “[...] the mobilization, articulation of human performance, and collective synergy” (Lück, 2009, p. 35), demanding skill from managers in navigating interpersonal relations and coherence with the principle of democratic management (as established in current Brazilian legislation). This principle mandates the conscious and informed participation of all individuals. Moreover, management processes entail ongoing actions involving both technical and political dimensions. From this perspective, management engages with the political dimension by analyzing and implementing, at the micro-level of the school, the educational policies created for the purpose of improving the quality of education offered to society.
From this historical moment onward, three concepts began to coexist:
a) Educational Management (Gestão Educacional): the broadest concept. It encompasses the other two and describes the entire process of coordination, legislation, financial and human resource management within the educational system across its different spheres: municipal, state, federal, and private institutions;
b) School Management (Gestão Escolar): an intermediate concept. It encompasses the third and refers to the process of coordinating a school or educational institution, including compliance with legislation and the management of financial and human resources as established by educational policies for the educational system across its different spheres: municipal, state, federal, and private institutions;
c) Democratic Management (Gestão Democrática): a principle that, since the Federal Constitution of 1988, permeates the other two, indicating that they must be guided by dialogue, participation, commitment, and collective action in a civic, political manner, with the aim of equal education for all people, under the same conditions.
All three share a common orientation: educational policies, understood as an instrument of the State to guide and correct undesirable situations and to organize the direction of the educational system. They are formed by ideas and actions that seek to resolve educational situations. According to the entry in the Encyclopedia of University Pedagogy (Enciclopédia de Pedagogia Universitária):
[...] educational policies are part of a set of social public policies, an expression of the State’s social action (or inaction), whose main reference point is the government apparatus in the movement of regulation of the education sector (Franco, 2003, p. 319).[6]
Educational policy is thus equally considered in planning, execution, evaluation, and legislation.
The year 2006 is reached, a period in which both the Pedagogy Program and Educational Management underwent changes as a result of the provisions established by new legislation. For the Pedagogy Program, Resolution CNE/CP No. 01, dated May 15, 2006, established the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Undergraduate Pedagogy Program (Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Curso de Graduação em Pedagogia, Licenciatura), which describe the purpose of the program as the initial training for the practice of teaching, “[...] as well as in other areas in which pedagogical knowledge is required” (Brazil, 2006, Art. 2). With this, the definition of the Pedagogy Program was altered, for,
[...] what had previously been aimed at the training of specialists now became explicit. From this Resolution onward, the educational process of the Program has teaching as its purpose, reinforcing the perspective established in 1969, when it came to be configured as a licensure program (Costa, Braido, Ferreira, 2025, p. 11).[7]
During the same period, as for Educational Management, adaptations were being experienced in response to the provisions of Law No. 10,172, dated January 9, 2001, which approved the National Education Plan (Plano Nacional de Educação – PNE), with education-related goals pertaining to the
[...] constitutional mandate regarding the elaboration of National Education Plans that would ensure the continuity of regulatory policies aimed at securing broad goals and strategies with respect to the quality of education, the coverage of provision, and the expansion of the right to the full range of Brazilian basic education (Lima, 2020, p. 707).[8]
This thus reveals the evolution of Public Educational Policies, which influence both licensure programs, such as, in this case, the Pedagogy Program, and the management of these programs. These Public Educational Policies “[...] were conceived so as to promote educational reforms of a national character, with far-reaching scope” (Shiroma, Moraes, Evangelista, 2011, p.12). The historicity of these two processes, despite their simultaneity, responded to the movements specific to each one without ceasing to be intertwined.
What meaning movements were read in the managers’ discourses?
In working with the produced data, it was noted that, during the selected period spanning eighteen years, only one man had worked as manager of the program, which initially prompted reflection on the “feminization of teaching” (“feminização do magistério”). Werle (2005), in a text addressing the reasons why the majority of school managers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul are women, explains that this is a vestige of the normal school programs (cursos normais), which were composed predominantly of female students. Since the second half of the nineteenth century, women have occupied positions as teachers and managers, while the number of men declined as men sought employment in the industrial sector then emerging in the country. Today, in a similar fashion, the program under analysis shows, year after year, a very small number of men among its students, faculty, and managers.
As for academic background, as mentioned, one manager did not hold a degree in Pedagogy but in Geography. Having a degree in the field is not a prerequisite for management; rather, according to the regulations of the university that houses the program under study, the requirement is that the individual has worked as a faculty member in the program and holds a permanent faculty position at the institution. Since the professor met the requirements of the applicable legislation and the selection process, she was elected by the community.
The interlocutors remained in the management of the program for at least two years, with one manager being re-elected and thus reaching four years. In accordance with the institutional bylaws, the term is two years, which is considered short for a community of approximately four hundred students, two cohorts per semester, and dozens of faculty members. The processes of getting to know the program, planning collectively, and engaging in ongoing evaluation are time-consuming and demand dedication. Carrying them out while also working as a faculty member, attending the many meetings required by the position, conducting research, and engaging in community outreach exceeds the forty weekly hours provided for in the employment contract. This is one of the reasons there is rarely a second term, as the temporal and spatial scope of the commitment generates greater intensification of the work of faculty members. It was also considered that remaining in the position for only a single two-year term avoids greater physical and emotional strain on faculty members.
Another question on the form sent to the research participants asked about the meanings related to the difficulties and the successes in management. With regard to the responses, the following meanings were observed:
a) interpersonal relations with faculty members and students:
In analyzing the discourses of the interlocutors, it was understood that interpersonal relations refer to the various forms of interaction among the subjects who make up the Program (classes, events, external evaluations, etc.). From this perspective, the management of the program is involved with the behaviors, the coexistence, and the conflicts of subjects, whose task it is to manage these in a way that ensures comfort in the environment. It is believed that, for managers with a degree in Pedagogy, interacting is somewhat more straightforward, given that the curriculum of this program includes knowledge of the Psychology of Education, the Sociology of Education, and the Philosophy of Education, which can underpin modes of action, fostering communication, collective activities, and encouraging leadership across different subjects.
With regard to interpersonal relations, P1 stated:
The greatest difficulties are related to interpersonal relations (faculty and students); difficulties related to the poor functioning of the support sectors for program coordinators; difficulties related to students’ understanding of how a public university functions, its limitations and possibilities; difficulties related to people’s mental health; difficulties and restrictions with regard to investments and the acquisition of equipment (such as printers, for example) (Discurso de P1 no formulário, 2025).[9]
For this manager, interpersonal relations are among the most difficult activities of the role. In a community involving so many subjects, mediating and communicating in action are characteristics that must be continually developed. It is important to note that, in communicating, there is a reorganization of the higher psychological processes[III] of all those involved. Reading the work of Vygotsky (1994; 1996), one learns about the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which posits the production of knowledge as a social process and proposes that an interactive environment, with adults, facilitates coexistence, encourages debate, and promotes the (re)cognition of others. This gives rise to the expectation that healthy and respectful interactions will be evident, as they are fundamental to development and the production of knowledge. Interpersonal relations may therefore be constructive or otherwise, depending on how people relate to one another during the process of knowledge production. This concern was among the responsibilities of the coordinators who participated in the research:
Strengthening dialogue and cooperation among faculty, students, and administrative staff; prioritizing the welcoming and retention of students, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,[IV] through strategies of communication, listening, and pedagogical support; and strengthening students’ sense of belonging to the program. Articulating with different sectors of the university and the capacity for adaptation and commitment to the continuity of academic activities, even in an adverse scenario, represent significant achievements (Discourse of P3 in the form, 2025).[10]
It is worth reiterating that the study focused on the discourses of managers from the most recent two-year periods, attesting to the currency of the theme, as these managers also expressed concern with coexistence during the program.
b) The interlocutors recovered favorable aspects, fruits of investments in pedagogical work[V], as a result of monitoring interpersonal relations closely during the period in which they served as managers:
Attending to students, listening to them, welcoming them; the attempt at democratic management, with cohort-semester meetings (Discourse of P4 in the form, 2025).[11]
They highlighted elements close to the inseparable relations between work and education: “[…] which are specifically human activities. This means that, strictly speaking, only the human being works and educates” (Saviani, 2007, p. 152). However, work, in humanizing and occurring simultaneously with education, likewise ensures survival, social insertion, the production of subjects’ historicity, and their consequent self-production as human beings. Therefore, in living work (even in the form of employment), subjects educate themselves in an articulated and necessary way.
c) Another prominent meaning indicated difficulties in relation to institutional support and budgetary constraints. The discourses reinforced that, during the management of the program, there was insufficient support from the university and from the government.
Budget limitations and resource cuts, which directly impacted the planning and execution of academic, administrative, and outreach activities. Overload of administrative and pedagogical demands, requiring the balancing of program management, teaching activities, and attention to faculty needs. Challenges in communication and integration among the different sectors of the institution, particularly in the face of structural and management changes (Discourse of P4 in the form, 2025).[12]
In particular, the budgetary issues gave rise to actions that depended on other sectors. In recent years, moreover, there have been varying levels of investment in education by Brazilian governments, which have not always adequately met the ideal level of financial resources required to support the institutional pedagogical project. The governments of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, from 2003 to 2010, prioritized higher education, focusing on autonomy, evaluation, and funding. As a way of accelerating the democratization of access to this level of education, they launched the University for All Program (Programa Universidade para Todos – PROUNI), whose main objective was to subsidize study at institutions with paid tuition. Only afterward did the expansion of places and the funding of students in the public network follow, especially toward the end of the first term. This was followed by the Program for the Restructuring and Expansion of Federal Institutions (Programa de Reestruturação e Expansão das Instituições Federais – REUNI), from 2008 to 2012, aimed at increasing the number of students in undergraduate programs (Amaral, 2009).
The immediately subsequent governments, of Dilma Vana Rousseff (2011–2016), focused on basic education, especially Vocational and Technological Education (Educação Profissional e Tecnológica – EPT), amid a severe economic crisis in the country. During the subsequent government terms of Michel Temer (2016–2018) and Jair Messias Bolsonaro (2019–2022), investments became increasingly scarce, compounded by budget cuts, to the point of, at certain moments, making essential teaching, research, and outreach activities unfeasible, as well as basic daily services at institutions, such as cleaning, security, infrastructure maintenance, among others.
In the current government of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (2023–2026), investments are being gradually restored, subject to restrictions stemming from the public spending ceiling. In sum, the financial autonomy of universities is determined by investment policies tied to the efforts of public managers, insofar as they commit to Brazilian higher education. In this context, the management of a program such as Pedagogy would be more easily carried out if greater and more agile technical and financial support were available in proportion to the number of enrollments. Added to this is the need to equalize investments with those made in programs considered more “profitable”, such as those in the Health Sciences, Agrarian Sciences, and others, which more easily access funding calls at levels that the Humanities struggle to meet.
d) Amid the difficulties, the managers highlighted relevant situations that had been experienced. These constitute important records from the perspective of the interlocutors, which, when highlighted, attest to the engagement and seriousness with which pedagogical work was carried out:
I recall a situation involving a colleague who had received very poor evaluations from the students in that semester. When a complaint from the students arrived, instead of forwarding it to the Teaching Department, I scheduled a meeting with him and began by telling him that, as a fellow faculty member, before sending it on, I wanted to hear his side. We reached an agreement, and I understood the situation to be resolved at that level. At the end of the conversation, he said to me: “I have never been treated with such dignity”. I still think about this. To what extent are we treated with dignity in our work, when it seems easier to pursue formal grievance processes? (Discourse of P3 in the form, 2025).[13]
This discourse reveals the relevance of attending to each individual subject as a factor that helps work to flow. The mediation of conflicts, grounded in the interest of centering attention on the subject, their historicity, reasons for acting, and affects, among other elements, makes it possible to overcome uncomfortable situations that, if left unaddressed, can worsen and further undermine individuals and their interpersonal relations. Creating channels for dialogue and access to managers is one of the levels of democratic educational management. This does not refer solely to the selection of representatives to participate in decisions; it includes the involvement of subjects with one another. To this end, according to Paro (2004), it is essential to abandon authoritarian actions, to practice empathy, and to seek joint solutions during conflicts. This process, as is well known, requires time and dedication.
e) Another evidenced meaning concerned mental health, particularly during the period in which the world experienced the COVID-19 pandemic:
Furthermore, I consider that aspects of illness (mental health) faced by contemporary society (such as anxiety, disorders, depression, and individuals with psychological problems without access to care) have also created a new profile of Pedagogy students. This is a challenge we also face on a daily basis (Discourse of P1 in the form, 2025).[14]
The pandemic has been overcome, but its vestiges are perceived daily in higher education across three areas: in the production of knowledge, because the period of remote instruction was not always adequately managed; in social coexistence, as the long period of isolation led to the loss of capacities for being with and for others; and in mental health, a consequence of the foregoing and compounded by the effects of COVID-19, which continue to be studied. Amid these dilemmas, students enter the university and face a new routine, demanding study, research, academic work, and classes. To help support their families, they combine study and work. They take on precarious employment positions in the opposite shift, which exhausts and overburdens them. This gives rise to differentiated forms of human representation, and some may lose their baseline sanity, becoming depressive, isolated, aggressive, etc.
As for the educational policies of 2006 and 2024, all managers emphasized the urgency of initiating another revision of the program’s pedagogical project, involving all segments of the surrounding community, with the goal of adapting it to the most recent guidelines, including the notion of practicum throughout the duration of the program. This planning must begin shortly, through the Structuring Faculty Core (Núcleo Docente Estruturante) of the Program.
In general, the study of the meanings found in the discourses of the faculty-coordinators of a Pedagogy program at a federal university in a smaller city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul indicated: an awareness of the difficulties involved in producing management; concern with structural dissonances, such as academic social relations and budgetary deficiencies that generated a lack of funding for even basic daily activities of the program; and an interest in centering management on the subjects of the program, establishing more and broader channels for dialogue and decision-making. However, no meanings were observed that would indicate the existence of a Democratic Management in the full sense of the term, as provided for in the Federal Constitution of 1988. This, from this perspective, is the great challenge facing current and future management.
Final Considerations
The analyses carried out throughout this research made it possible to understand how the management of the Pedagogy Program, at the university under study, was constituted and performed by coordinators who worked between 2006 and 2024. In general, faculty members run for the position of program manager in order to contribute to the program, and, once elected, during the management period, due to the many demands of the position (student services, processing of administrative procedures, meetings, committees, etc.), they intensify and extend their working hours beyond the established limit, which does not encourage them to run for another term.
Considering the institutional changes and the legal guidelines of Resolution CNE/CP No. 01, dated May 15, 2006, and Resolution CNE/CP No. 4, dated May 29, 2024, within the time period defined for this research, it was observed that the period was marked by advances and weaknesses that generated both everyday management challenges and structural reforms at the university.
The advances were associated primarily with the expansion of pedagogical work related to the educational processes that faculty members continuously demanded in their work. In turn, the greatest institutional investment bore on student retention. These elements evidenced efforts to strengthen the program and to respond to contemporary social and academic demands. On the other hand, significant weaknesses persisted, such as difficulties in interpersonal relations, budgetary constraints, administrative overload, and emotional and organizational impacts intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. These aspects directly influenced the pedagogical work of the coordination and, consequently, the dynamics of the program.
The understanding of how educational management operates in a Pedagogy program in a smaller city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul is an indicator for broadening the scope of research, with a view to understanding other realities. Educational management is a demand for the composition of the curricular structure of the Program on the one hand. On the other hand, it organizes not only the proposal but the daily life of the community and the production of knowledge, in what is called pedagogical work. For this reason, understanding the movements of meanings in the discourses of the subjects who are the protagonists of this activity, seeking coherence with the educational policies for the Program, makes it possible to gauge the challenges and the hopes, the remnants of the past, and to envision the futures.
In this study, in particular, grounded in the AMS as the theoretical and methodological framework, tensions, expectations, meanings of advances, and perceptions of stagnation that traversed Educational Management in the university context of the program under study were assessed, in the form of meanings within the discourses produced in response to the questionnaire. The participants’ discourses revealed meanings, emphasizing that course coordination, essential to pedagogical and administrative articulation, still lacks greater institutional support, adequate educational processes, and appropriate conditions for its pedagogical work.
Finally, it is understood that this study needs to be continued, contributing further to the analysis of Educational Management within the scope of Pedagogy programs, whose curricula also address this theme, given that future educators may serve as managers in educational institutions. At the convergence of Educational Management as studied and Educational Management as lived, integrated political needs emerge: to recognize the pedagogical work of higher education program coordination, to promote more collaborative institutional relations, and to enhance the reach of the program as an educational process for professionals in the field.
The overall finding of this study is that, in the Pedagogy Program that served as the research locus, based on the meanings contained in the discourses of the managers during the period from 2006 to 2024, Educational Management, understood as collective and democratic action, remains a central field for the improvement of the idealized and lived pedagogical project. The task at hand is, therefore, to bring idealizations and lived experiences closer together and, in so doing, to make the community more cohesive in its pursuit of this objective and of the actions demanded on a daily basis.
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