TEACHER ACTION AND THE CRITICAL AND HUMANISTIC EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This text discusses some aspects related to higher education, especially concerning

the students education as a result, in the first instance, of the pedagogical organization planned

for this purpose, that is, the political-pedagogical projects. We also make some reflections on the

teacher’s action with respect to issues such as the commitment to an education that considers both

the critical and humanistic aspects and the cognitive aspects intrinsic to the specific knowledge of

the profession. The university has experienced several crises, which have been discussed by

several authors. Among the crises identified by these authors (i.e. financial crisis, autonomy

crisis, identity crisis, etc.), we highlight here the textual crisis. This aspect is discussed by

goergen (1995), according to whom a textual crisis is the one that includes the internal texts in

the university, its contents, its teaching methods, its relationship with science and technology, and

with the ethical and social meanings of what is done or not. The same concern remains with

respect to the professional education provided by the university. Issues such as the pragmatic

aspect of the professions have led to a market-oriented university curriculum. In this sense, one

may ask: is there, at some point, political and academic space for the debate on what type of

professional we are educating? Have the university professors been discussing, in their

classrooms or other educational spaces, such as teacher trainings, the meaning of the ethical and

professional education they are providing? These are some of the questions addressed in this text,

with the aim of provoking a reflection on this issue within the university.