Initial teacher education: Pedagogy courses at the public universities of Paraná

Abstract

This paper sought to understand how the curricula of the Pedagogy courses of public institutions in the state of Paraná, Brazil, are organized. For that, a survey was made of the contributions that the Pedagogical Projects of the courses bring to the education of pedagogues in these institutions. Firstly, it is brought up a look at the organization of the work of the pedagogue in Paraná, considering different periods and also the moments by which the education of these professionals passed. Next, the courses of Pedagogy are presented in public HEIs of the state from the analysis of the Pedagogical Projects available on the institutions’ websites. The results indicate that there are different curricular matrices and different theoretical foundations, in order to promote the education of pedagogues in the state with a plurality of conceptions. It is considered, therefore, that the initial education of the pedagogue in Paraná foresees an arduous work with the foundations of education and with the teaching practices in the initial grades of Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education.