The curriculum is ​​organized into 3 interconnected levels: 1) course compulsory disciplines; 2) optional theoretical foundational disciplines; 3) free electives (linked to research lines, to research groups and to the research projects of professors). Intrinsically linked to the research lines, the curriculum offers a knowledge base that grounds analysis of the current situation of Brazilian education, its organization, institutionalization, structure, problems and challenges; grounds training for empirical research, including the mastery of data collection methods and data analysis; supports the appropriation of theoretical-methodological references for research and the broadening of knowledge produced in different fields of study.

This curriculum matrix allows for an initial expansion of perspective for graduate students, temporarily taking the focus away from their research interests, so that they can understand the dimensions and complexity of the challenges imposed on Brazilian public education, in a context of many and profound social inequalities. This expansion is also present in research disciplines, whose main objective is to promote knowledge of the epistemological and philosophical principles of scientific research and to provide an analysis of the advantages, scope and limitations of the different research methods and procedures in human and social sciences, avoiding methodological monism and ensuring the appropriate object/method relationship.

Requirements for obtaining a Master's degree

The student is required to obtain a minimum of 24 credits, distributed as follows:

• 03 credits obtained from the course Brazilian Education;
• 06 credits obtained from the course Educational Research I and II;
• 03 credits obtained from the course Trabalho Supervisionado de Pesquisa (grupo de pesquisa), a serem cursados obrigatoriamente em 02 semestres, com 01 cr. e 02 cr., respectivamente.
• 06 credits obtained from foundation core disciplines.
• 06 credits obtained from elective disciplines, at least one of which is not from the area of Education, at the discretion of the Graduate Committee, with prior approval by the student’s Advisor.
• The master's student must pass a foreign language exam (English or French).
• The master's student must present, defend and pass a Master's Dissertation defense.

Curriculum matrix 

All other courses offered by the Department are elective, except for participation in research groups; elective courses respond both to core requirements of the thematic pillars, as well as to the needs emerging from research under development in the Program. Recent elective courses include: Curriculum (Studies and Perspectives); School Life and Cultures; Theoretical-Practical Review of Current Quantitative Research; Teacher Training (Culture and History); The Culture Industry and Education; Reading, Writing and Culture; Concepts of Childhood and Education; Recent theories of cognition; Education and Aesthetics; Critical Themes on Education and Technology, etc.

The combination of emerging themes with periodic review of bibliographies ensures the updating, innovation and progressive internationalization of the program's curriculum. In particular, bibliographies are increasingly integrating resources of various kinds, such as classic texts in the field, recent articles published in international journals (in different languages), multimedia resources (such as videos, infographics, collaborative activity platforms, online debate forums, live and/or recorded lectures by professors from other Programs and from other countries), as well as the production of the program itself, such as studies and publications of national scope (for example, in the areas of Politics and Didactics) and international scope (for example, in the areas of Technologies and Cultural Differences).