INTRODUCTION

The School of Education (FE) grants professional degrees in Education as well as qualifies secondary and high school teachers of 27 other curricular fields from 10 different USP academic units. It also provides different development programs for undergraduate students, such as the introduction to the scientific research in Education and extension courses. Moreover, the School offers continuing education programs – courses, symposiums, and research and extension projects – for teachers, assistants, managers and other Education-related jobs in order to foster the development of new professional competences and experiences that combine research and contemporary educational demands.

Nowadays, FE has undergraduate and graduate courses (master’s and doctoral degrees), as well as several research modalities and academic extension programs.

A BIT OF OUR HISTORY 

 The origin of the School of Education goes back to 1934, when the University of São Paulo was created. Since then it has pursued its mission with determination and competence. Among its main activities are teaching, research, community services as well as the promotion of cultural activities to the community. Our main academic goals are: (1) to prepare competent professionals of education who are responsible and socially critical; (2) to foster new relevant knowledge in the field of education, contributing to the debate on Brazilian educational problems; and (3) to publish and disseminate such knowledge to public teaching institutions by means of counseling, partnerships, courses, exchange agreements and so on.

In pursuing such goals, the School of Education strives to maintain its assertion as an international and national reference in the field of education by responding to social and individual demands through knowledge and sustainable development. Mission, activities and goals are combined into a strategic plan, assessed on a regular basis. Within this process, the involvement of the whole community – professors, students and staff – has proven to be the guarantee of the development of competencies and the ongoing advances in the organizational culture.

The School is composed by three departments that develop activities in both undergraduate and graduate programs, according to their specific fields of knowledge:

• Department of School Administration and Economy of Education (EDA), which develops its activities in school administration (finance administration, personnel administration, organization theories), education economy, anthropology of the educational organizations, special education, educational policy and educational assessment. It also carries out studies about genre, education and work.
• Department of Philosophy of Education and Sciences of Education (EDF), which develops activities in the field of history of education, history of Brazilian education, sociology of education, philosophy of education, psychology of education and special education.
• Department of Teaching Methodology and Comparative Education (EDM), which develops activities in teaching methodology, compared education, teaching theories, preschool education, teacher education and special education.