Commodification in Brazilian Private Higher Education and Teacher
Training in Pedagogy Courses

Fernando Silva Martins

(Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract: Quantitative data from the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP) show that Brazilian higher education is concentrated in the private sector, where most of the training of early childhood and elementary education teachers is carried out. Thereby, the training of teachers in Brazil has largely assumed commodified characteristics, especially in private for-profit institutions. Thus, this ongoing research investigates the profiles of university professors with degrees from private for-profit higher education institutions (HEI) and how they evaluate their work as teachers’ trainers in the Pedagogy course of an institution with the same features. The methodology is empirical, and the theoretical framework is based on Bourdieu and Dubar. As a partial result, it is possible to observe, in the evaluations these professionals make of their own work, the main characteristics they display accordingly to their position, as well as the influence of commodification on their teaching autonomy.