Aço nas almas: uma reflexão sobre a formação de professores para a atuação na educação de jovens e adultos EJA no Vale do Aço e no Vale do Rio Doce.

Abstract

This Professional Master's research in Education focuses on Youth and Adult Education (YAE) as its object of study, considering the need to understand initial teacher education programs for work in this educational modality and their impacts on the contemporary school context. Thus, the research problem guiding this study stems from the following question: How do undergraduate teacher education programs at public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Vale do Aço and Vale do Rio Doce regions prepare future teachers to work in Youth and Adult Education (YAE)? In this context, the general objective guiding this proposal is: to investigate the curricular structure of teacher education degree programs at public and private HEIs in the Vale do Aço and Vale do Rio Doce regions. The specific objectives are: a) To investigate how teacher education programs at HEIs in Vale do Aço and Vale do Rio Doce prepare pre-service teachers to work in Youth and Adult Education (YAE), based on curriculum matrices as documentary sources; b) To identify significant pedagogical practices through the reports and perceptions of the educational trajectories of YAE graduates from Vale do Aço, Minas Gerais; c) To produce a podcast series reporting the experiences and formative memories of YAE graduates as an educational product. This proposal is grounded in a conception of education that encourages autonomy and freedom, drawing on the theoretical framework developed by Paulo Freire. Furthermore, it incorporates scholarly articles related to the theme as bibliographical support. The theoretical foundation of the research is based on the works of Paulo Freire ([1968] 2023, [1997] 2023), Haddad (2019), among others. Regarding the documentary research, the study analyzed curriculum matrices of teacher education programs, data from the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC/e-MEC), legislative documents concerning YAE, and official Brazilian documents such as the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (LDB), the National Education Plan (PNE 2014–2024), and Opinion CNE/CEB No. 3/2025. It is expected that this research will contribute to teacher education, since, supported by a theoretical framework, both through the theoretical discussion developed and through the analysis of data obtained from documentary research, it starts from the assumption of the need for initial teacher education and the importance of listening to YAE graduates. According to Paulo Freire ([1968] 2023, [1997] 2023), these students can share, with protagonism and autonomy, their genuine perceptions of education in YAE, contributing to the development of an educational product in the form of a podcast.