Didactic courses in Public Relations : Challenges and perspectives of university education

Abstract

As per Act No. 5377 of 1967 in Article 4., Chapter II, specific disciplines of Public Relations are taught by qualified professionals in the Public Relations program. In the year 2013, this requirement was reinforced by the new National Curriculum Guidelines which include the exercise of teaching as one of the competencies to be developed among graduates. However, preliminary results of a study coordinated by Ferrari et al (2014, 2015) proved inconsistent training of students for the practice of teaching and pedagogical preparation of teachers of specific subjects of public relations. Based on this finding, this study aims to identify the educational practices used in the classroom and educational difficulties faced by trainers of Public Relations courses in Brazil. During the first phase of the project a national database on the teaching-learning process of Public Relations will be employed to compare the pedagogical educational figuration of the courses offered by both public and private institutions and identify the courses and teachers with different educational practices. The following phase will examine interviews with coordinators and teachers of such courses contemplating higher education institutions of the five Brazilian geographical regions. The results of this leading-edge study will assist coordinators and trainers of the Public Relations courses to reassess teaching-learning methodologies: a) the inclusion of disciplines to develop teaching skills to students as determined by the new Curriculum Guidelines (2013); b) the planning of teacher training activities and c) in encouraging young graduates to embrace the academic career, since this activity is not attractive at the expense of career in communications agencies or the corporate world. (AU)