Policies for training university professors in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Catalonia, Spain: Trends and challenges

Abstract

In the context of significant changes to higher education and the subsequent increase in interest about training teaching staff, the present research draws on international and regional guidelines and recommendations in this field to shed light on the trends that affect policies for training professors at universities in Sao Paulo and Catalonia. The methodology brings together qualitative and quantitative approaches and includes the use of documentary analysis, interviews with people in charge of training and specialists, questionnaires and focus groups. An analysis of the information collected and a comparison of the training initiatives in both contexts showed that training for professors has been driven by current educational reforms, which are supported by the idea of the harmonization and construction of common spaces in higher education. On the one hand, these changes can lead to restructuring curricula in the name of quality, but on the other hand, they require greater accountability for students' results on the part of professors and may lead to greater instability for the profession, by increasing demands, reducing public funding and fragmenting research and teaching activities. Training, as a disputed field, is both an adaptation strategy and a drive towards didactic-pedagogical improvements and the professionalization of university teaching. These results present certain challenges, including overcoming the unequal recognition given to research and teaching, defining the responsibilities involved in teaching and going beyond the immediate needs of the labor market, by transcending the technical-instrumental paradigm of current neoliberal reforms and ensuring that training contributes towards greater professionalism for professors.