Formação profissional e fundamentos do serviço social sob o impacto ultraneoliberal no ensino superior no Maranhão

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the impacts of ultraneoliberal policies on professional education in Social Work within higher education in Maranhão, Brazil. The research investigates how the commodification of education, the expansion of distance learning, and curricular standardization affect the theoretical and methodological training of social workers, weakening the critical perspective of the profession. The approach adopted is based on critical social theory, grounded in historical-dialectical materialism, aiming to examine the transformations occurring in higher education and their consequences for university autonomy and the Ethical-Political Project of Social Work. The research techniques employed were bibliographic and documentary research, with sources including pedagogical projects, curriculum matrices, and institutional guidelines from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in São Luís, Maranhão. The results indicate that Social Work education in Maranhão is directly influenced by the ultraneoliberal offensive, which tends to flexibilize and commodify education, moving away from the critical and emancipatory commitment. It is concluded that defending professional education aligned with the Ethical-Political Project of Social Work requires academic and political resistance against educational counter-reforms and the precarization of higher education.