Trajectories and contexts of implementation of the Pedagogical Residency Program: implications for initial teacher training

Abstract

This article examines the trajectory and contexts of implementation of the Pedagogical Residency Program (PRP), its implications, and the challenges it presents for initial teacher education. This is a trajectory study, analyzing public policy within its contexts, processes, and developments, highlighting its historical dimension, temporalities, and connections with implementation dynamics. We conducted a document analysis (Marconi; Lakatos, 2018) and a meta-analysis (Bicudo, 2014) anchored in the three contexts proposed by Oliveira, Alves, and Fichter Filho (2022) as analytical dimensions of policy: (1) the context of conjuncture, which focuses on the government cycles during which the Residency program was conceived and implemented; (2) the context of policy content, where we analyzed the program's objectives, implementers, and recipients as described in the documents; and (3) the context of experience, which investigates, through research conducted in various institutions, how the experiences of the implementers interact with the program's objectives. Based on the analysis of the PRP, the data reveal that the conception of training is a persistent problem for formulators and implementers of initial teacher education policies. There is a disconnect between improving the quality of initial training and the fluctuation and inconsistency of policies; The trajectory of teacher training is marked by ups and downs that don't contribute to policy improvement. There's a lack of comprehensive assessments of how programs effectively improve the performance of teachers who have completed the Residência program. We conclude that teacher training is a contested agenda between conservative and progressive political groups, and, depending on the elected government, programs reflect different conceptions.