The New Public Management Policy in the Context of Continuing Teacher Education: the Case of the National Professional Master's Degree in Physics Teaching

Abstract:

In this article, we analyze the processes of creation and expansion of the Professional Master's Degrees in Teaching, stricto sensu continuing teacher education programs, in the context of New Public Management. In particular, we did research on the National Master's Degree in Physics Teaching created in 2013 under the coordination of the Brazilian Society of Physics. Thus, we highlight the administrative organization and the standardized pedagogical practices of rofessional Master's Degree and its alignment with the principles of New Public Management, that is, of adopting a business logic for continuing teacher education. Finally, based on the numbers concerning the academic success of the first three groups that completed the Professional Master's Degree, we reflect on the scope of the large-scale training that this program has been able to promote and, on the other hand, on possible paths of administrative transformation that are not in line with the new public management.

Keywords:
Professional master's degree; Physics teaching; Postgraduate course; Public management