Caminhos e perspectivas da coordenação de polos da Universidade Aberta do Brasil no âmbito da UFSM

Abstract

This study was produced in the context of Research Line 1 (LP1): Policies and Management of Basic and Higher Education, Professional Master Course, Postgraduate Program in Public Policy and Educational Management which aims to understand the processes of management of centers linked to the Open University of Brazil (UAB) considering the public policies, the selection process, the attributions and the profile of the pole coordinator, with a view to the qualification of his professional performance. To build the theoretical framework, the study uses authors such as Belloni (2008), Maia (2007), Mill (2016), Moore (2008), Peters (2009). This literature underpins what is brought here about distance education within the UAB and educational management. Revisits the Law of Education Guidelines and Bases, as well as the laws that regulate the distance modality in the country, especially those concerning the UAB, focusing on the role of the pole coordinator. The definition of the management concept, the understanding of the meaning of planning, organization and direction resulting from the manager's competences are fundamental elements for the research development. The methodological option is identified in the qualitative approach, considering that the researcher is not outside the reality that studies, on the margins of it, the phenomena to which he seeks to understand and capture their meanings (TRIVINÕS, 2008; LAKATOS; MARCONI, 2008; GIL, 2009). As research subjects were defined six coordinators of poles with active offer of the Pedagogy Course UAB / UFSM, three with more and three with less time in the exercise as manager. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted both in person and at a distance. To analyze the data, we used the Discursive Textual Analysis, proposed by Moraes (2003), Moraes and Galliazzi (2007). From the analysis three categories emerged: 1st) The process of choosing the pole coordinator; 2nd) Perceptions about the duties of the pole coordinator; 3ª) The difficulties experienced as coordinator of polo. It is perceived that the coordinator of the pole is the main link between the municipal maintainer and the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), and their actions determine the growth, maintenance and quality references to the coordinated pole. Observing and analyzing the actions evidenced by the managers in the interviews as a product of the professional master's research we elaborated a tutorial in order to contribute to qualify the management process of a UAB System present support pole.