Graduation Program in Teaching

Professional Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Teaching

With the establishment of the State University of Northern Paraná (UENP) in 2006, the prospect of strengthening the field of teaching within the institution emerged, which offers undergraduate licentiate degree programs across its three campuses. Since the integration of the formerly independent state colleges of Northern Paraná, their transformation into UENP, and the hiring of new faculty members, interdisciplinary dialogues have been fostered to create a stricto sensu graduate program focused on meeting regional demands for the qualification of teachers in both Basic Education and Higher Education.

In this context, faculty members from the Biological Sciences and Mathematics departments of the Center for Humanities and Education (CCHE), located at the Cornélio Procópio campus (CCP), proposed the establishment of the Graduate Program in Teaching (PPGEN), a Professional Master's Degree. This interdisciplinary teacher training proposal was approved on October 29, 2015, by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES/MEC) and ratified at the 160th Meeting of the Technical-Scientific Council for Higher Education (CTC-ES).

The academic field of “Teaching” was established by a decision of the CAPES Superior Council in 2011 and is part of the broader Multidisciplinary area. It originated from the former field of Science and Mathematics Education, from which it retains the primary standards for organizing and evaluating graduate programs in Brazil. With over a decade of development, these programs primarily focus on research and the production of teaching materials related to specific content areas, fostering connections between subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge for teaching.

Within this framework, PPGEN/UENP was created with the mission of promoting a closer relationship between academic research and the professional teaching context—an environment constantly undergoing didactic and pedagogical transformations. The program aims to qualify professionals capable of contributing to the improvement of teaching and learning processes across various educational levels. This effort also considers the inclusion of students from both licentiate and non-licentiate backgrounds, such as graduates in Nursing, Business Administration, and Information Technology. Many of these professionals show interest in teaching in technical and vocational education programs and thus require enhanced pedagogical training. Moreover, such programs are part of Basic Education and have increasingly been promoted through public policy initiatives.

PPGEN/UENP is structured around the central theme of “Teaching, Science, and Technology,” which underpins its two research lines: Teaching and Learning in Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Teacher Education, Technological Resources, and Language Studies, these lines aim to qualify professionals for teaching careers (in Basic and Higher Education), through the development of research and pedagogical strategies that support teaching practices across different fields of knowledge, including both formal and non-formal educational spaces.

However, with the approval of the Professional Doctorate in Teaching at UENP during the 221st Meeting of the Technical-Scientific Council for Higher Education (CTC-ES) at the end of 2023, the entire curriculum structure of the program required revision, as anticipated in the 2021–2024 Strategic Plan. Thus, while PPGEN has maintained its area of concentration, it has expanded its research lines and associated macro-projects, assuming a new structure beginning in 2025.

Area of Concentration: Teaching, Science, and Technology

Research Line 1 – Teaching and Teacher Education: This line encompasses studies focused on teacher education and the development of pedagogical materials for teaching.

Research Line 2 – Learning of (Inter)disciplinary Content, Technologies, and Innovation: This line includes investigations into teaching and learning processes across different disciplinary fields, their historical and philosophical foundations, and their relationship with school and university education.

With the program’s recent expansion to include the doctoral level, PPGEN has gained increasing visibility and recognition at the regional, state, and national levels. This advancement highlights the commitment of a highly qualified team of researchers and dedicated students and represents a significant milestone in the program’s eight-year trajectory of consistent academic engagement.

PPGEN’s research lines are supported by four macro-projects, which serve to guide and support the development of theses, dissertations, and technical outputs within the program. Faculty members, their advisees, and ongoing research projects are all linked to one of the following macro-projects:

Educational Products for Teacher Education (RL1)
Educational Products for Teaching (RL1)
Educational Products for Learning in Basic Education (RL2)
Educational Products for Learning in Higher Education (RL2)

In this framework, the MISSION of PPGEN/UENP is to promote the continuing education of teachers by positioning research in teaching as a central element in the development of high-level theoretical, methodological, and technological educational products and processes. These are designed to serve various educational sectors and contexts, with the ultimate goal of improving teaching and learning processes.

As its VISION, the program is committed to training teachers for both Basic Education and Higher Education at a level of excellence. It prioritizes reflective engagement with the challenges of teaching practice, aiming to investigate and transform them through rigorous, critical, and innovative research that is ethically grounded and sensitive to students’ rights to learning. The program seeks to meet the needs of various disciplines, educational levels, and learning environments.

The VALUES cultivated by the program reflect its commitment to human and social development. The program’s core values include: Ethics, Sustainability, Environmental Preservation, Socio-environmental Responsibility, Solidarity, Justice, Democracy, Diversity, Innovation, Social Inclusion, Cordiality, Recognition, and a Commitment to the Professional Development of High-Quality Teaching.

Finally, the Graduate Program in Teaching presents itself as a key element in the academic verticalization process at UENP. It addresses local, regional, and national demands for teacher training and fosters multi- and interdisciplinary dialogue between the university and classrooms through targeted research, aiming to promote a reflective, critical, and innovative approach to teacher education.

Coordination

Prof. Dr. Rudolph dos Santos Gomes Pereira – Coordinator

Prof. Dr. Lucken Bueno Lucas – Vice-Coordinator

Secretary

Thaynara Aparecida Machado

Coordinating Committee

Prof. Dr. Priscila Caroza Frasson Costa

Prof. Dr. Daniel Trevisan Sanzovo

Prof. Dr. Simone Luccas

Prof. Dr. Marília Bazan Blanco

Alternates
Prof. Dr. Barbara Nivalda Palharini Alvim Sousa
Prof. Dr. Rodrigo de Souza Poletto

Student Representatives