O Papel Mediador do Tutor na EaD: tensões, contradições e paradoxos

Abstract

The practice of the tutor in Distance Education (DE) constitutes an essential component of the pedagogical organization of this modality, articulating actions that support students and accompany the development of academic activities. In this context, this study was guided by the following research question: How are tutoring activities developed in undergraduate distance education programs? In order to address this question, the general objective of the research was to analyze the implications of the development of tutoring activities in the undergraduate Mathematics Teacher Education program at the Universidade Federal de Goiáss (UFG), offered in the distance education modality. The investigation was conducted in the undergraduate Mathematics Teacher Education program at the Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), offered through distance education within the framework of the Open University of Brazil (UAB) system. The theoretical framework was grounded in studies by Araújo (2014), Alonso (2010), Belloni (2015), Nogueira and de Almeida Moraes (2019), Peixoto (2015), Sancho (2016), Toschi (2004), among others. This research is characterized as a qualitative case study with a participant research orientation. Data collection instruments included observation of the investigated context, questionnaires, interviews, and the development of a tutor training course. Grounded in the historical-dialectical materialism method, the study established three analytical categories: objective working conditions, communication in distance education, and pedagogical mediation. As part of the methodological trajectory, a tutor training course entitled “Mediation and Training of Tutors for Distance Education” was developed, based on elements observed in tutoring practice, needs identified in the analyzed studies, and the theoretical framework adopted. The course and the e-book entitled “Communication in Distance Education: A Focus on the Mediating Role of the Tutor”, developed as complementary material to the course, constitute the educational products produced during the research process within the Professional Master’s Degree Program in Teaching in Basic Education at the Centro de Ensino e Pesquisa Aplicada à Educação (CEPAE), Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Brazil, in the research line Theoretical-Methodological Conceptions and Teaching Practices. The educational products are available in the appendices. The results indicate that the tutor’s role, although essentially characterized by pedagogical practice, is permeated by structural contradictions.