A contribuição da ciência da história na compreensão de políticas públicas educacionais: uma análise do Programa de Apoio a Planos de Reestruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais (REUNI) - 2008 a 2012

Abstract

This research aims to present the results of an analysis of the Support Program to the Plans for Restructuring and Expanding Federal Universities (REUNI). As an educational public policy, REUNI was implemented during the Lula government (2003-2010), which aimed at a restructuring process for federal public universities between 2008 and 2012. The Lula government, with the REUNI proposal, conditioned funds Transfer to federal public universities to a presentation of a restructuring proposal capable of attending the 21st Century Society demands. This restructuring proposal was reached looking for a Goal Agreement between federal university and the Ministry of Educational and Culture – MEC. The documentary analysis evidences that REUNI's aim was to induce innovation in the graduate school curricula offered by federal public universities. The proposed implementation of Interdisciplinary Bachelor's is an example of these conception. The importance of the REUNI analysis is justified according to three aspects: i) REUNI is a stage in the context of Brazilian federal universities reform construct since the 80s; ii) all federal universities acceded and submitted restructuring proposals; iii) the fact that REUNI intends to an induction of curricular innovation to the universities, aiming to tear with a Brazilian tradition that higher education was associated with professional training. Demonstrate how the Science of History can contribute to the process of analysis of public educational policies is the shew of this paper. Methodologically, the research is conducted by analyzing the narratives of meaning around the reform and shown at documents produced nationally and internationally. The historical analysis of REUNI leads us to some problematizations: what lack of orientation led to the need to restructure the professional training experience in federal public universities in Brazil? How has been interpreted the professional training experience offered by public university in the public policy intention? What is the historical constitution of meaning proposed by REUNI to higher education offered at federal public universities? With a proposal for large-scale training, the program target to keep off early professionalization and open up possibilities that higher education could focus itself on an idea of training tor occupations and not professions. Our thesis is based on two certainties: first that REUNI was a proposal for restructuring the curricular architecture of federal public universities; second, the success of educational public policy depends on how higher education institutions pasts was considered in the process of synthesize about public space interventions, considering that the relationship between experience and intention is fundamental to implement public educational policies. In this sense, the result of the REUNI actions was the result of the encounter between the tradition of professional training of graduate courses in Brazil and the curricular restructuring based on training from wide areas of knowledge, with the proposal of the Interdisciplinary Bachelor Degree.