Inconsistencies and contradictions of public policies for teacher training in the current scenario of reformulation of national curriculum guidelines

Abstract

In view of a new scenario of reforms in public policies on pre-service teacher training, we formulate a critical analysis about a group of current legal documents for pre-service Physics teachers training. The two main official documents which regulate the design and implementation of these training courses – although founded on the same notion of competence, viewed as nuclear conception of such training – present different training models, which indicate a conceptual weakness of the legislation in proposing more consistent policies for teacher training courses in our country. Thus, this paper presents a discussion on some existing legal documents about Physics teachers training, based on the well-known critical analysis on this issue in education and in science education, in order to promote debates about educational policies endorsed in this scenario of reform in the national curriculum guidelines for pre-service teacher training. From the analysis developed we found contradictions and weaknesses in those documents and, consequently, on the policies themselves. These weaknesses often arise from existent tensions between communities, disturbing any possible attempt to improve teacher education. In addition, issues beyond the scope of the curricular field, such as working conditions, social value of teacher’s career and others are not prioritized in these legal documents.