BUILDING ALTERNATIVES TO TEACHER EDUCATION: THE PERCEPTION OF PEDAGOGY STUDENTS ABOUT THE CURRICULUM INTEGRATED APPROACH

Abstract

In the Brazilian educational context, the debate on the crisis in the educational processes and the need for improvements in basic education have been associated with the urgency of changes in initial teacher training, assigning to these courses a centrality role in the reform agenda. To face the challenges, it has been developed the understanding that interventions, that make possible innovation in training courses, inevitably involve the search for new curricular approaches. In this sense, the integrated curriculum is an important reference. This study aims to analyze the perceptions and the meaning that students of a pedagogy course attribute to the integrated curriculum from their experiences as students in this curriculum model and raise reflections on the contributions of the integrated curriculum for initial teacher education. It is a qualitative research. Data were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 58 graduate students of the first and second group who participated in this curriculum mode in a higher education institution located in the southern region of São Paulo city. For data analysis, we used the elaboration of categories procedure proposed by Lüdke and André (2013). The results revealed a very positive perception of students on integrated curriculum approach in their education processes, allowing us to point the integrated curriculum as a viable alternative to the renewal of the traditional curriculum paradigm and redefinition of initial teacher education.