O papel da educação a distância na expansão da educação profissional no Brasil: diretrizes e práticas de formação dos trabalhadores através da Rede e-Tec

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the expansion policies of Vocational Education programs in Brazil and the role that Distance Education has in this context. This analysis will be achieved by the examination of a course offered through the E-Tec Network (Rede e-Tec) in a federal public institution. Specifically, this courses guidelines and formational practices will be examined. The research present in this thesis was developed around three parameters: the trajectory of the Technical and Technological Vocational Education programs in Brazil beginning in 1990 and their expansion policies that were initiated in 2007; Distance Education and its incorporation in the scope of Public Policies for Vocational and Technological Education; and the implementation of the E-Tec Network (Rede e-Tec) in a federal public institution. The quantitative nature of this empirical research was conducted in an institution which adopted the E-Tec Brazil Program in 2008 and which is also traditionally known for its vocational high-school level course offerings in Brazil. Based on the interviews conducted, it was noticed that there was an arduous and complex implementation process which involved prejudice and intra-institutional disputes. In regards to the Environmental Sciences course, the interviews demonstrate that this course was developed with the goal of fulfilling the demands of the local labour market for specialized professionals, and not much room was left for integral human formation. The interviews with the instructors showed many flaws in the technical training process of the docent body, which ended up resulting in the transposition of physical classroom practices to E-Learning practices. Additionally, other problems with this specific course that were pointed out are related to the lack of appropriate laboratories, communication issues with the course coordination staff and the tardiness of grant pay-outs and/or not receiving payment for grants et all. Based on the theoretical and empirical studies done in this project, it was possible to establish that distance learning high-school level Technical Vocational Education in Brazil is configured by a political strategy that has as its basis a restricted concept of democracy. The level of democracy that these programs claim to have refers only to giving the constituents access to these programs. It does not take into account the structural and pedagogical conditions that would allow students to remain in these programs nor the level of quality assurance necessary for students to achieve insertion in privileged positions in the marketplace.