INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES: CRITERIA ASSIGNED BY TEACHER EDUCATORS WHO WORK IN PEDAGOGY COURSES

Abstract

This article analyzes the criteria that teacher educators, who work in Pedagogy Courses, attribute to innovative pedagogical practices. The empirical basis of support for the discussions in this text is data from a descriptive, exploratory and qualitative research, which had as its locus, six Community Higher Education Institutions in the State of Santa Catarina, linked to the Associação Catarinense das Fundações Educacionais – Acafe, which offer the Pedagogy course in face-to-face mode. The sample was made up of teacher educators, who act as full professors in Pedagogy courses at these institutions, and who agreed to participate in the research. As a data collection procedure, an online questionnaire was used. And, in the analysis, the technique of content analysis was applied. It was evident that the criteria that give meaning to innovative pedagogical practice are subjective, assume a polysemic character and vary according to the knowledge, interpretation and experience of those surveyed. Some central elements were articulated to practice of that nature: student protagonism; rupture with the traditional; new; technology; search; and active methodologies. The analysis of these criteria, in the light of the research's theoretical framework, made it possible to understand that not everything that was explained as pedagogical innovation constitutes, in fact, an innovative pedagogical practice. It was verified the need and importance of promoting reflection on what an innovative pedagogical practice is and how it constitutes, aiming at a more assertive conception of the concept, which can support the practice in teacher training courses and the consolidation of the profile of the innovative teacher.