Estudo do trabalho do tutor na educação a distância: desafios e contradições

• Ano de defesa: 2025
• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Débora Oliveira da
• Orientador(a): Mesquita, Maria Cristina das Graças Dutra
• Banca de defesa: Mohn, Rodrigo Fideles Fernandes , Baldoíno, Luciana dos Santos Machado
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação STRICTO SENSU em Educação
• Departamento: Escola de Formação de Professores e Humanidades
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Tutor; Educação a distância; Trabalho docente; Precarização do trabalho e neoliberalismo
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Distance education; Teaching work; Labor precariousness; Neoliberalism
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS::EDUCAÇÃO
• Link de acesso: https://tede2.pucgoias.edu.br/handle/tede/5298

This dissertation is part of the Research Line State, Policies, and Educational Institutions within the Graduate Program in Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás. It investigates the work of the tutor in Distance Education (DE), focusing on the challenges and contradictions surrounding this role in a context influenced by neoliberal policies. In light of the rapid expansion of DE in Brazil and the increasing commodification of education, the tutor's role although essential in mediating between content and students—remains undervalued, and their work is often precarious. The central question addressed is: how is the tutor's work characterized, and what are the main challenges faced in performing this role? The general objective is to understand the structure of the tutor's work in DE, identifying the challenges and contradictions that emerge from their activities. The specific objectives include: discussing the concept of work and the teaching profession; examining DE legislation and regulatory frameworks; analyzing the expansion of DE from a neoliberal perspective; identifying the functions required of tutors in hiring processes; and comparing these functions with the legal frameworks.The adopted methodology integrates bibliographic research, document analysis, and empirical research. The documentary and empirical analysis involved collecting and examining tutor selection notices and job postings from the LinkedIn platform, comparing them with regulatory documents such as the Quality Guidelines for Distance Higher Education (2007), Capes Ordinance No. 309 of 2024, CNE/CES Opinion No. 564/2015, and the Tutoring Manual for UAB Courses. This is an exploratory and qualitative study, grounded in historical dialectical materialism, which enables a critical analysis of the working conditions of tutors in their historical and social dimensions. It was found that 70.4% of the requirements for the tutor role correspond to demands intended for teaching staff, and that 54.2% of the duties are also typical of this role. These figures highlight a significant overlap between the functions, indicating that a large proportion of the demands placed on tutors align with teaching practice. This dilution of roles, combined with the lack of formal recognition, inadequate compensation, and fragile employment relationships, contributes to the precariousness of these professionals' work. The research points out that the figure of the tutor, often relegated to a secondary position, primarily serves administrative and economic interests, affecting the quality of the teaching learning process. As final considerations, the study concludes that the fragmentation of teaching work in DE is not a technical necessity of the modality, but a political-economic strategy to cheapen, intensify, and control educational work, transforming education into a commodity. The struggle for the recognition of the tutor goes beyond a corporate issue, becoming a central point in the resistance against the precarization of work and in the defense of an emancipatory educational project that ensures dignity and quality for all.