This paper originated from a post-doctoral research on institutional university teachers’ development programs. Its objective is to question formative actions for higher education teaching at public universities, identifying the risks, tensions and challenges faced by these institutionalized programs. During this descriptive - exploratory study, programs coordinators were consulted through a face-to-face interview, while recognized researchers from the university teaching development area were interviewed via email. The analysis used was based on the hermeneutics - dialectics method. A few challenges surfaced: the constant struggle resisting regulatory policies directed against an education that aims at social quality; the sustainability of institutional policies; the valorization of university teaching development programs regulated by ethical and political principles related to human emancipation; and, as a strategy against hegemonic status, the construction of articulation networks among existing programs.
Higher education; University teaching; University teachers’ development programs