The management committee of the Fundep Magda Soares Chair in Basic Education at the Institute of Advanced Transdisciplinary Studies (IEAT) at UFMG held its first meeting with representatives of the research circles approved to join the research ecosystem on basic education and teacher training on April 1, 2025.

Held in the auditorium of the Permanent Admissions Committee (Copeve), the event marked the official start of the work of the three selected research circles and was highlighted by the presence of Professor António Nóvoa, the first occupant of the chair, who welcomed the participants and highlighted the importance of dialogue between universities and schools.

Professor Júlio Emílio Diniz-Pereira, from the School of Education at UFMG and coordinator of the chair, highlighted the participation of researchers and basic education teachers in the circles, reinforcing the initiative’s commitment to collaborative action anchored in the concrete experiences of schools. Professors Maria José Flores, deputy pro-rector of Undergraduate Studies at UFMG, and Roberta Corrêa, representative of the University and Basic Education Board (Dueb), also participated in the meeting and presented reflections on the process of building an institutional policy focused on teacher training at UFMG. Both emphasized the strategic role of the Fundep Magda Soares Chair in this movement.

Next, the coordinators of the research circles presented the projects that will guide their investigations in the coming months. Professor Guilherme Carvalho Franco da Silveira, from the Pedagogical Center (CP) of UFMG, presented the project School, culture and digital technologies, which seeks to reflect on the role of digital technologies and digital culture in teaching work and in the daily school life of children, adolescents and young people.

Professor Heli Sabino de Oliveira, from the School of Education (Fae) of UFMG, presented the proposal “Hybrid spaces”, “third space” and “common space” as a political and pedagogical challenge for the training of basic education teachers at the University, which investigates the training of undergraduate teachers based on the pedagogical relationship and the bonds that are built through the interaction of knowledge — a constituent element of what they call the “third space”.

Closing the presentations, Professor Maria Carolina da Silva Caldeira, also from CP, highlighted the project Literacy practices in different areas of knowledge and curriculum, which aims to investigate how teachers in the initial years of Elementary School construct, review and resignify their knowledge during the elaboration of their own curricula, in the context of literacy for children aged between 5 and 9 years old.

At the end of the meeting, participants were invited to discuss the perspectives and challenges of collaborative work within the scope of the chair. For Professor Júlio Emílio, the meeting was essential. “We had the opportunity to present the initiatives underway, but, above all, to initiate a dialogue between the members of the circles, an essential aspect for the joint construction of the projects”, he assessed.