Distance education and national teacher training policies: Implementation evidence in a multi-level perspective

Abstract

The Programa Nacional Escola de Gestores (PNEG) integrated the national teacher training policy and was financed by the Brazilian government. Ended in 2017, was part of a set of programs that elected distance education (DE) as its main strategy. The PNEG was designed to strengthen public school management. Based on graduates and PNEG instructors’ perceptions of this program at one federal university, this article provides evidence on multi-level administrative and educational decision-making processes in distance education. Mixed methods were adopted. Data was collected through a survey applied to 216 graduates and 29 interviews with the PNEG team entailed five dimensions: (i) the training and pedagogical design implemented; (ii) the polyteaching training team; (iii) distance education and the use of digital information and communicational technologies (DICTs); (iv) the resources and infrastructure provided by the local support center; and (v) the interaction between the graduates and the polyteaching team in the PNEG training process. The analyses reveal that, in DE, pedagogical planning, the use of technologies, and the combination of resources that stimulate interaction among the actors play a decisive role in this process. Team supervision is another mandatory aspect. Mediated by technologies, DE teacher training programs funded by the federal government have redesigned curricular trajectories, tried out different pedagogical strategies, and proposed new skills to students and trainers.