Literature in the Pedagogy curriculum: a territory in dispute?

ABSTRACT

This article discusses and analyses the teaching of literature in Pedagogy Courses from 27 Brazilian federal universities. It adopts the descriptive-analytical approach. The reading of literature remains a recurring theme of discussions in the educational sphere. It is a practice that allows the interaction between the subjects of different societies and collaborates in the constitution of the human being. Based on this assertion, the teaching of literature should be included in the curriculum of pedagogues, who are the first teachers of children. The data show that most universities offer the subject on an optional basis, demonstrating the fragile presence of literature in teacher education, ratifying the idea of curriculum as a territory of power and dispute. Offering the subject as an optional extra does not guarantee its effectiveness, it depends on a series of circumstances related to the dynamics of the institutions, it becomes a shortcut. The analysis of institutions in the Northeast and Southeast regions, delimitation of this article, show a significant number of undergraduates who fail to take the subject, when it is offered as an elective. In fact, some universities do not have the conditions to ensure this offer and to provide this theoretical and methodological knowledge to the undergraduates. The gap left in the training will have repercussions on the performance of the future pedagogue. A change in the curricular proposal is needed to legitimize and guarantee a knowledge that is fundamental in the formation of the first teachers, but has taken shortcuts to become effective.

Keywords:
Teaching Literature; Pedagogy course; Curriculum; Teacher’s education