Teacher education and erring subjectivity

teaching life beyond politics of recognition

Abstract

This article aims to defend teaching as a process of continuous subjectivation, beyond a normative perspective that limits teacher education to the undergraduate years. The text begins by analyzing recent data released by INEP in relation to both Higher Education and Basic Education. These data provide important insights into the current Brazilian scenario and point to future perspectives. It is noted that there is a gap between teacher education and subjects taught, especially in the Initial Years and in the subjects of philosophy and sociology, and that there is also a sharp drop in the demand for undergraduate courses to be formed as a teacher by young people at Brazilian universities. Given the scenario presented by the data, which points to the “risk of a teaching blackout” (BOF ET AL, 2023), this article problematizes teacher education policies in light of two paradigmatic models, in the form of a policy of recognition and in the form of a policy of difference. Moving away from the tendency of the politics of recognition, which is eminently teleological and moral, this article focuses on the second political form. The focus shifts from a technical-normative perspective to an inventive one, which conceives teaching as a continuous process of subjectivation. Some clues for thinking about and affirming “another” political formation are suggested. In short, it is a question of transferring the issue of a formation policy to a different political formation, with erring as a central element, especially with regard to the subjective processes of a body called teachers.