Introduction

There are many movements and discussions aimed at reformulating teacher training in Brazil. For example, the movement within the Conselho Nacional de Educação (National Education Council - CNE) regarding the rediscussions about the education guidelines for Basic Education teaching professionals in recent decades, which have contributed to the emergence of different legal frameworks aimed at nationally guiding the training processes of these professionals, such as the approval of Resolution CNE/CP No. 2, of December 20, ²⁰¹⁹, which amended Resolution No. 2, of July 1, 2015.

For ^{Dourado (2016)}, these actions reflect the clashes in the area, covering different conceptions of Teacher education, and also denote the lack of more organic policies for the sector. Thus, considering the importance of understanding the political, pedagogical and legal reality of teacher education, this paper proposes to debate the elements for the initial education of Basic Education teachers, within the scope of the Pedagogy course at the State University of Montes Claros (Unimontes), considering the Pedagogical Course Project (PPC) and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015, which defines the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCNs) for initial education at higher level.

This is a qualitative study whose research method consisted of documentary research. To support the discussion of the problem, it was based on theoretical concepts from the ideas of authors of Historical-Critical Pedagogy, aiming to answer the following question: what reflections, pertinent to Initial Teacher Education, can be made from the analysis of the curricular references for education, considering Unimontes' Pedagogy PPC and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015?

The paper is organized into six sections, the first of which is the introduction. The second section discusses the ideas of authors of Historical-Critical Pedagogy on the concept of curriculum. Next, the methodological aspects of the research will be discussed. The fourth section will present a contextualization of the legal bases for the construction of the Pedagogy PPC between 2019 and 2023, as well as its analysis. The fifth section discusses the convergences and divergences between the PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015. Finally, the conclusions of the research results will be presented.

Historical-Critical Pedagogy and curriculum design

Historical-Critical Pedagogy is a pedagogical theory that emerged during Brazil's re-democratization period, with the end of the military dictatorship in the 1980s (^{Sousa, 2018}). Inspired by the dialectical conception, it has objectives in line with the transformation of society, conceiving education in a context characterized by the contradiction driven by the class struggle, through the social relations of production (^{Malanchen, 2014}).

According to ^{Saviani (2019)}, the transformations resulting from the capitalist material base in today's society represent the contradiction between the development of material productive forces and social relations based on the private ownership of the means of production. Education, whose purpose is to socialize systematized knowledge, also falls into this contradiction since knowledge cannot be fully socialized because it is part of the means of production (^{Malanchen, 2014}).

Thus, according to the precepts of Historical-Critical Pedagogy, the curriculum should cover both the selection of content and the means of its appropriation, as well as capturing the contradictory movement that constitutes society and how the working class is inserted into this movement, considering that it can be defined as “an intentional selection of a portion of the universal culture produced historically” (^{Malanchen, 2014}, p. 7).

For ^{Gama and Prates (2020)}, curricular organization based on dialectical logic aims to fully develop the individual's understanding of reality so that they can not only respond to the problems imposed on them, but also change their own reality. Thus, by focusing on the needs of the working class, the curriculum does not lose sight of the project of overcoming capitalism, which has curtailed human development.

In light of the above, ^{Saviani (2020)} clarifies that in curriculum organization, the different types of knowledge are of interest as elements to be appropriated so that each individual can synthesize the humanization that is historically produced by humanity. In addition, the author explains that the knowledge to be mobilized by teachers is articulated according to the objective, which is properly pedagogical and represents the development of students, which is related to the “qualitative transformation of their mode of insertion into social practice” (^{Saviani, 2020}, p. 38).

By understanding that education deals with a process of appropriating the totality of human objectifications as a result of the historical development of humanity, not inherited, ^{Saviani (2019)} states that the function of education consists of selecting the essential elements that make up the human reality of a given era, as well as organizing and sequencing them in such a way as to enable students to appropriate these elements. In this sense, the curriculum is a unity of content and form (^{Gama & Duarte, 2017}).

As a reference for the selection of this content, and a criterion for identifying the elements that should make up the curriculum, ^{Saviani (2011)} believes that the notion of classic is fundamental, defined as that which has been established as essential over time. It should be emphasized that classic, according to the author, cannot be confused with traditional or necessarily considered contrary to what is current. This is because the present must be understood as a synthesis of the past, given that education must encompass the current reality in an organized way, not only adapting to it, but actively reorganizing it (^{Saviani, 2019}).

From this perspective, ^{Duarte (2013)} asserts that the project aimed at overcoming capitalism has the issue of individuality at its core, implying the emancipation of individuals. Therefore, the author warns that education is fundamental for human development, given that the educational process enables the insertion of each individual into the culture that already exists in society.

^{Duarte (2013)} argues that in the history of humanity, characterized by class struggle, it is impossible to separate humanization and alienation, considering the dialectical relationship that is established between these two principles. In this sense, he points to the need to analyse what has been established as humanization and what has become alienation, since as human beings have developed, they have also produced their own alienation, taken to the extreme in capitalist society.

Thus, Historical-Critical Pedagogy advocates that the transformation of society must occur through a process of incorporation and overcoming, and that the knowledge that already exists - sciences, arts and philosophy - are part of human achievements and cannot be ignored (^{Duarte, 2013}). Therefore, it is essential to guarantee the children of the working class scientific, artistic and philosophical knowledge in its most developed forms, overcoming the tendency to subject the curriculum to the pragmatic and alienated daily life of today.

In view of the aspects observed, there is a need to overcome the formal logic that makes it difficult to understand the contradictory nature of human development in capitalist society, recognizing that it is through the socialization of knowledge that individuals will be able to analyse society in order to change it. In this sense, the curriculum is understood as an instrument of emancipation, organized in such a way as to enable individuals to objectify themselves in a conscious way, increasingly free from the relations of domination that exist in class society.

Methodological aspects of the research

This is a documentary study with a qualitative approach. According to ^{Minayo (2007)}, qualitative research works with the set of human phenomena understood as part of social reality, answering particular questions which, in this case, cannot be quantified. Considering that the universe of human production can hardly be quantified, the researcher becomes an important instrument for capturing information and interpreting it.

Thus, in view of the objective of debating the elements for the initial education of Basic Education teachers, within the scope of the Pedagogy course at Unimontes, considering the PPC and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015, the research focused on both documents for analytical treatment.

Content analysis was used to analyze the documents in order to extract information to understand the phenomenon. According to ^{Bardin (2016)}, content analysis refers to a set of techniques for analyzing communications which, in a systematic and objective way, aims to capture indicators that make it possible to deduce information about the conditions of production and reception of the message.

Considering the corpus of the research, consisting mainly of the Unimontes Pedagogy PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, it should be noted that as these are public documents, they are available for consultation, and the PPC can be checked on the course's page on the university's website and, in the case of the Resolution, in the Diário Oficial da União (Federal Official Gazette - DOU). It is also worth noting that the coordinator of the course was duly consulted and informed at the time the research was carried out, and she was made aware of the purpose of the investigation. Her signature was obtained through the Institution's Agreement to Participate in Research, in order to comply with ethical precepts, and the research project was submitted to the Unimontes Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa (Research Ethics Committee - CEP) and approved on May 14, 2022, under Opinion no. 5.408.713.

Thus, we proceeded with the analysis itself, considering the research problem: what reflections, relevant to the initial education of basic education teachers, can be made from the analysis of the curricular references for education, considering the Pedagogy PPC of Unimontes and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015? To this end, the material was read, and the information was broken down and distributed into categories, which were created throughout the study. This was followed by the description, systematization and analysis of the categorization results for data interpretation, which will be discussed in the next section.

The Unimontes Pedagogy PPC: political and legal context

According to ^{Lüdke and André (1986)}, documents offer contextualized information, as well as data from the very context in which they originated, precisely because they arose at a certain juncture. Furthermore, since they can provide factual information about a problem, it is up to the researcher to define the focus of the study. Thus, the interest in analyzing Unimontes' Pedagogy PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015 is justified by the possibility of debating elements for the initial education of Basic Education teachers in a contextualized way.

Thus, it was found that the PPC analyzed contemplates in its curricular organization, among other legal documents, the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (LDBEN) No. 9394, of December 20, 1996; the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Pedagogy Course (CNE/CP Resolution No. 1, of May 15, 2006 ); and the National Curriculum Guidelines for initial education at higher education level - degree courses, pedagogical training courses for graduates and second degree courses, and for continuing education (Resolution CNE/CP No. 2/2015).

It should be noted that, although there was a demand to adapt the curriculum following the approval of Resolution CNE/CP No. 2, of December 20, ²⁰¹⁹, which defined new National Curriculum Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education for Basic Education, the Pedagogy course's PPC was based on the previous resolution at the time the research was carried out. This is especially justified by the manifestations of the educational community and representative entities, such as the Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Educação (National Association for Graduate Studies and Research in Education - ANPED) and the Associação Nacional pela Formação dos Profissionais da Educação (National Association for the Training of Education Professionals - ANFOPE), in favor of maintaining Resolution 2/2015, which led the CNE to issue a Communiqué on the need for changes to Resolution CNE/CP 2/²⁰¹⁹, leaving it in abeyance.

Interpretation and analysis of the PPC

For ^{Veiga (1998)}, the pedagogical project consists of the very organization of the institution's pedagogical work, advocated as a social space influenced by contradictory practices. In this sense, it reflects an educational intent, a commitment that is defined collectively. With this in mind, the author argues that the most appropriate way to refer to this instrument would be “Political-Pedagogical Project”, because the pedagogical project is also political since it is linked to the socio-political commitment, from which it must be based as an instrument that aims to train subjects according to a type of society.

The political and pedagogical aspects are therefore inseparable, and while the political dimension is linked to educational intent, the pedagogical dimension is associated with the educational actions of the institution, as well as its feasible characteristics so that its aims can be achieved. Without disagreeing with this interpretation, we will continue with our analysis using the term Projeto Pedagógico do Curso (Pedagogical Course Project - PPC) in order to follow the identification of these documents, based on the institutional decision.

Thus, starting with the characterization and contextualization of the PPC of the Pedagogy course at Unimontes, it was found that it was approved based on Resolution 196 - CEPEx/2019. Initially, it should be noted that the Pedagogy course, offered in the regular face-to-face mode at Unimontes, confers the title of teacher of Early Childhood Education and Early Years of Primary Education, in the modalities of Youth and Adult Education and Special Education. It is offered on a semester basis at the Montes Claros campus, in the afternoon and morning shifts; and on an annual basis at the Janaúba, Januária, Espinosa, Paracatu, Pirapora, Brasília de Minas and Almenara campuses, where it is offered in the evening shift (^{Unimontes, 2019}).

As for the historical context, the PPC reveals that the Pedagogy course was one of the first teacher training courses to be established in Montes Claros, when the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters (FAFIL) was founded in 1963. Years later, precisely in 1966, it was incorporated by the Fundação Norte Mineira de Educação Superior (FUNM), which in turn was taken over by Unimontes, which was established by State Decree No. 30.971, of March 9, 1990. Recognized by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) in July 1994, through Ministerial Ordinance No. 1116 and Opinion No. 232/94 of the Minas Gerais State Education Council, this institution is currently considered a university of regional integration, being the largest public university in the North of Minas Gerais, aggregating the drought polygon and assisting, above all, the Northeast and Northwest regions, covering the Jequitinhonha, Mucuri and Urucuia Valleys (^{Unimontes, 2019}).

Over the course of time, the undergraduate Pedagogy course at this university has sought to meet legal demands, following the changes proposed by the legislation in force, carrying out various reformulations to its curricular structure. Despite recognizing the need to meet legal requirements, the PPC highlights that the training of pedagogues has historically been marked by clashes arising from educators' organizations across the country, as a result of official attempts to reformulate Pedagogy, thus seeking to define its identity and specificity.

In this sense, the Pedagogy course's PPC was built collectively, through the coordination of the Didactic Coordination and the Structuring Teaching Nucleus (NDE), based on legal guidelines, from a proposal that was guided by meeting the educational and social demands characteristic of the region covered by the University. In addition, two events marked the process of restructuring the course's curriculum matrix, which began in 2014, with the publication of CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, which required its implementation, as well as the establishment of the NDE in degree courses, taking on the role of articulating the mobilization of teachers and promoting updates to the PPC.

With these considerations in mind, we'll move on to the actual discussion and analysis of the information collected using the following categories: perspective on Teacher education, teaching knowledge and the theory-practice relationship, and curriculum structure and organization.

The Pedagogy PPC and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015

In order to discuss the elements for Initial Tacher Education, within the scope of the Pedagogy course at Unimontes, considering the PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, we proceeded analytically, using the categories of analysis listed, in order to synthesize their characteristics. Once the categories have been substantiated, we move on to discuss the convergences and divergences between the PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015.

As for the perspective of teacher education, CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015 highlights the proposal for a “common national basis, based on the concept of education as an emancipatory and permanent process, as well as recognizing the specificity of teaching work, which leads to praxis” (^{Brasil, 2015}, p.6).

In addition to ensuring a common national basis for initial and continuing training, considering principles such as solid professional training, theory-practice unity, democratic management and professional valorization, it is important to consider national diversity and the pedagogical autonomy of institutions.

The document articulates the concept of teaching as an educational action and an intentional and methodical pedagogical project, which involves knowledge, principles and objectives inherent to teaching and learning, socialization and the construction of knowledge, encompassing different worldviews. It also registers the concept of curriculum as the set of values favorable to the production and appreciation of meanings in the social space, conducive to the construction of the student's sociocultural identity (^{Brasil, 2015}).

In turn, the curriculum for the Pedagogy course (^{Unimontes, 2019}) highlights the concern to train individuals with a view to their professional development, but without losing sight of the human condition. In this way, it strives for training processes that build the capacity of future teachers to situate themselves socially, politically and historically so that they can act to build a more just and democratic society. It also presents teaching as the core of the course, defined as an educational action, without neglecting the social and productive determinants that influence pedagogical concepts, principles and objectives.

Based on these considerations, it was possible to see the harmony between CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015 and the Pedagogy PPC, which encompasses the same concept of teaching as well as society, since they do not focus their intentions on preparing individuals with skills and competencies, but aim for an education that prepares individuals engaged in building a fair, equitable and egalitarian society.

Thus, despite the influence of Reflective Theory in the construction of the Pedagogy PPC narrative, which aims to train reflective professionals and can be identified with neoliberal and postmodern ideals, as pointed out in the previous section, there is a concern to establish a mutual relationship between training processes and social transformation, considering the historical, political, social and economic factors that make up reality.

In relation to the category of teaching knowledge and the theory-practice relationship, it was possible to see that the Pedagogy curriculum (^{Unimontes, 2019}) seeks to include multiple types of knowledge that are similar to those recommended by ^{Saviani (2020)}, which are identified as attitudinal, critical-contextual, specific, pedagogical and didactic-curricular knowledge.

Both documents highlight the importance of the articulation between theoretical and practical components for the materialization of the theory-practice relationship in the training of graduates, and CNE/CP Resolution No. 2/2015 records as one of the principles of Teacher Education the theoretical-practical articulation, based on the mastery of scientific and didactic knowledge, contemplating the inseparability between teaching, research and extension.

It is worth noting that the Pedagogy PPC (^{Unimontes, 2019}) highlights the theory-practice relationship as an indispensable element in the curriculum dynamics for building a transformative attitude in individuals. Although it associates this relationship with the development of an investigative attitude in undergraduates, it is possible to see that the ideas presented for the Pedagogy course, as well as the guidelines, are close to Historical-Critical Pedagogy, given that, from this perspective, knowledge must be understood in its entirety, considering that in order to capture reality, educational practice must carry out the mediation process within global social practice.

With regard to the curricular structure and organization category, CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015 establishes that the training activities made up of training nuclei I and II, defined respectively in items I and II of its article 12, must comprise at least 2200h of the course's total workload. It also determines a minimum of 3,200 hours for academic work, with a minimum duration of 8 semesters or 4 years.

Thus, it was found that the Pedagogy PPC (^{Unimontes, 2019}) is organized into training nuclei, articulated over the eight periods, with a workload of 1330h for Training Nucleus I - Nucleus of General Training Studies; 1440h for Training Nucleus II - Nucleus of Deepening and Diversification of Studies and 564h for Training Nucleus III - Nucleus of Integrating Studies. Therefore, the minimum of 2,200 hours provided for the development of activities related to training nuclei I and II, according to the Resolution, are met in the Pedagogy PPC, which establishes a total of 2,770 hours for dedication to these activities. In addition, the minimum set for the course's total workload is exceeded by 134 hours, giving a total of 3334 hours.

In addition, as established in Resolution CNE/CP No. 2/2015, the project analyzed includes 400 hours of Practice as a Curricular Component; 400 hours for the supervised internship; and 200 hours of in-depth theoretical-practical activities in specific areas of interest to students, according to core III defined in the Resolution, in its item III, of art. 12 (^{Brasil, 2015}).

Another issue to take into account is that, according to CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, the time dedicated to pedagogical dimensions should predominate in the design of Pedagogy courses, and in other degrees, it should not be less than the fifth part of the total workload of the course. Thus, based on this determination, it was identified that the Pedagogy PPC (^{Unimontes, 2019}) complies with the provisions of the Resolution, given that the subjects that comprise the constitution of knowledge about teaching objects correspond to the predominant workload of the course.

Based on these definitions, it is considered that the time dedicated to building knowledge about teaching objects, according to the Resolution and the Pedagogy PPC, is of paramount importance, since it can provide the theoretical foundation necessary for building the identity of future pedagogues.

Conclusion

In view of the objective of debating the elements for the initial training of basic education teachers, within the scope of the Unimontes Pedagogy course, considering the PPC and CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, it is possible to draw some conclusions through the analysis of the documents evidenced.

Although it presents ideas of “reflective practice”, the Pedagogy PPC (^{Unimontes, 2019}) records the need to prepare professionals who are aware of the social reality in which they are situated, striving for a critical stance towards transforming this reality. This is in line with the educational concept set out in CNE/CP Resolution 2/2015, which presents an educational basis based on the concept of emancipatory education, considering it as a principle of human rights, and also understanding the need to respect the concrete reality of the subjects who bring the curriculum to life.

It's worth pointing out that the “reflective practice” perspective can represent a retreat from theory in teacher training, with the focus shifting to practice. This can lead to the mischaracterization of teaching work, as teachers move away from their role as transmitters of school knowledge and become reflective professionals, working in a process marked by improvisation. In this sense, training focuses on experiential knowledge rather than theoretical, scientific and academic knowledge.

For this reason, studies based on the historical dialectic between humanization and alienation, as advocated by ^{Duarte (2013)}, are extremely important. As the author explains, we live in a historical moment characterized by class struggle, causing contradictions that move history and human production. That's why, in our society, there is no such thing as something or someone who is outside this contradictory process that causes both humanization and alienation - we are a product of it. Institutions do not escape it and the processes that permeate them do not escape it, revealing the contradictions that are inherent to them.

This indicates that the institutions themselves reveal the conflicts that are the product of these contradictions, making it essential to debate and act on the processes that are conceived in their own environment. Change can come from the very institutions that have been developed within society.

Therefore, we advocate training processes that are geared towards the effective development of each student, mobilizing the theoretical and practical tools necessary for them to be able to effectively act in the transformation of the educational context in which they find themselves.