Institutionalization of Public Distance Education as Essentially Dialetic Phenomenon

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the relations of cause and effect in the process of organic incorporation of distance education in public universities. Therefore, it is proposed the concept of dialectics to explain the institutionalization of the modality. With regard to the methodology, from the methodological triangulation different instruments, strategies and sources of data were used, namely: documentary analysis; virtual focus groups; semi-structured interviews; Delphi technique; and virtual questionnaire. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches, without losing sight of our epistemological matrix concerning Max Weber’s comprehensive sociology, which concerns the apprehension of universities as clusters of subjects who attribute a subjective sense to their socially oriented action. With the study, it was understood that the institutionalization of distance education is an essentially dialectical phenomenon, because it is enmeshed in constant institutional conflicts driven by immanent contradictions. While dichotomous views persist, especially through the model established by the Open University System of Brazil (UAB - Sistema Universidade Aberta do Brasil), there are important obstacles in the organic incorporation of the modality. Therefore, it is considered that the overcoming of this public policy of an emergency nature tends to culminate in the greater synthesis process, in which distance education and classroom education become juxtaposed. Hybrid education is achieved, since the qualifications “face-to-face” and “distance” become secondary, giving greater focus to the educational process.