O papel da curricularização da extensão na formação e na construção da identidade do administrador

Abstract

University extension, historically relegated to a secondary role in relation to teaching and research, underwent a transformation in 2018 with its curricularization process, making its inclusion in the curriculum of national undergraduate courses mandatory. Although this activity has taken on different perspectives since the early 20th century, by the late 1980s, it assumed the role of ensuring a dialogical and cooperative relationship between universities and society, aiming to train professionals with critical and reflective perspectives, capable of transforming the social environment in which they are embedded. Regarding the Administration course, however, there is a predominance of an instrumental and mechanistic view of administrator training. Governed by the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCNs), the course is primarily focused on preparing administrators for the job market, shaping professionals who reproduce, uncritically, the knowledge acquired throughout their education. Thus, the main objective of this research is to understand how faculty members with recognized expertise in extension projects perceive the role of curricularized university extension in the formation of administrators and the construction of their professional identity. This qualitative research employed documentary analysis and interviews as data collection methods. Among the findings, it is noteworthy that the DCNs primarily shape administrators with a market-oriented education and identity. Additionally, experts believe that the curricularization of extension has the potential to change this reality, but they do not currently see this change as a concrete fact, given that the curricularization process has been unfolding in a confusing, disorganized, and uncoordinated manner among higher education institutions, leading to numerous challenges and resistance to its full implementation.