University management in a complex perspective: emergencies and indicators from a pedagogy course

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a thesis that sought to understand the management processes/practices of the Pedagogy course at a public university in northeastern Brazil, in light of a Complex Thought as developed by Edgar Morin. As an epistemological foundation, we used authors from the fields of Complexity, Transdisciplinary and self-organization through noise, who helped us to understand management in the university context. We opted for a method inspired by complexity theory as the methodological basis of the study, with the purpose of understanding the research territory in articulated way. We conducted conversations, using generative themes, with nine subjects who are part of the Pedagogy course. To construct meaning, we started from the subjects’ narratives and borrowed the principles of complexity, as a strategy for the method, proposed by Morin (2003). This strategy allowed us to highlight some indicators que can provide clues for reshaping the management processes/practices of the Pedagogy course, potentially impacting university management. The study’s findings pointed to the need for a transformation e=in the concept of management, through several indicators: 1) Management that is aware of its limitations, uncertainty, and the incompleteness of its actions; 2) that conceives of management as a self-eco-organizing system, capable of improvement and (trans)formation; 3) that operates through reconnection and dialogue; 4) that recognizes the autonomy present in management processes/practices, while also recognizing their multiple dependencies; and 5) a commitment to managing, grounded in democracy and planetary ethics.