RATIONALITY, KNOWLEDGE AND TEACHER EDUCATION IN BRAZIL: TENSIONS, DISPUTES AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO A CRITICAL READING OF TEACHER PROFESSIONALIZATION

Abstract

This article examines how rationality and knowledge structure teacher education in Brazil between 1988 and 2022, interpreting legislation and public policies through two theoretical constructs developed for this study: the knowledge pyramid and the microcosm–macrocosm articulation. Drawing on Diniz-Pereira’s typology of rationalities and Shulman’s framework of teacher knowledge, the paper argues that the dominance of technical rationality continues to shape curricula, restricting formative development and compressing the knowledge required for teacher professionalization. A qualitative and documentary analysis of post-1988 normative frameworks was conducted, focusing on the tensions that limit or enable the advancement of critical rationality in undergraduate licensure programs. The findings indicate that democratic periods allowed greater expansion of the pyramid — strengthening practice, enhancing theory–practice integration, and recognizing schools as formative spaces — whereas technicist cycles intensified standardization, competency-based models, and control over teaching work. The study concludes that overcoming the persistent compression of teacher education requires stable and articulated public policies capable of supporting critical practices and recognizing teachers as intellectual agents situated within ongoing tensions between macro-level regulation and micro-level pedagogical practice.