O Projeto Veredas no município de Pirapora: um olhar sobre a formação a distância de professores

Abstract

This study is inserted in the field of teacher’s education, focusing the implemented policies in Brazilian education in the last years, especially in Minas Gerais. Throughout the 90’s several programs and projects on continuing education of the educational professionals were implemented, making use, in this case, of in Service and distance education. From 2002 on, it started in the State of Minas Gerais a new project for professional formation called “Veredas project - Higher education for teachers - distance course”, which is the subject of this research. The project uses the model of distance and in Service formation, but with initial education in higher education. The research tried to analyze the relevance of distance formation offered by The Veredas Project for the initial higher education of teachers of elementary schools in the North region of the State of Minas Gerais. There was a focus on the formation agency - AFOR of the Veredas Project in the town of Pirapora, which is under the control of the State University of Montes Claros - Unimontes. The direction was the qualitative approach, grounded on bibliographical survey, interviews and semi-structured questionnaire with student teachers, tutors and coordinators. The data show that the distance education, as conceived in the in the Veredas Project, has a broad coverage capacity, however, some student teachers did not have financial and technological resources to keep their studies individually and at distance. The tutor’s role in this project was also made evident in our researches, with the function of executing and transmitting the proposals shaped by the Veredas Project. Another issue in evidence in the student teachers voice was the interruption of the allowance for expenses they used to receive for their expenses during the presential week which took place in the 18 polo, in Pirapora.