Teacher education and graduate studies: teacher or researcher? Is there a future for this trade?

Abstract

This text is based on another one that was used for our intervention in the roundtable mentioned. Its hypothesis is that to exercise the trade of teacher and researcher is to work under a cloak of insecurity. While the current system appears increasingly solid, the ground on which teachers and students tread is increasingly shaky. We begin with the thesis that we teach and supervise based on an education that we did not receive and the education that we offer is not in keeping with the challenges our students face. Four sub-theses arise from this thesis and concern factors that explain and justify difficulties of methodology and content. The text is based on research data prepared under the auspices of CNPq and addresses issues concerning graduate work and a review of literature in the field. In addition to a reflection on the context, we conclude that instead of working with disjunctives such as “and” or polarizations such as “or” in relation to education, teaching and research, we should understand these processes as mutual fertilizations through which each one of the functions of the university can yield affirmative answers, particularly to the final question in the title.

Key words: research, teaching, education, graduate studies.