Processo de desaprendizagem para o desenvolvimento de competências: a experiência de alunos de três Mestrados Profissionais em Administração do Nordeste

Abstract

Public and private organizations face constant changes that affect their internal structures and dynamics, requiring managers and professionals to develop new skills to meet these demands. Just as organizations need to find the best professionals, it is up to individuals to find ways to develop new skills that are compatible with these changes. Professional Masters in Administration aim to qualify managers for high-level positions, preparing them for these changes. However, it is up to the student-professional to adopt a receptive stance, because when previous knowledge, beliefs or practices begin to hinder or distort the acquisition of new learning, it is necessary to unlearn. In this context, this research has the general objective of understanding how the unlearning process occurs for the development of skills in three Professional Masters in Administration programs in northeastern Brazil. In order to achieve this purpose, the following specific objectives were established: (i) To identify the skills developed by student-professionals throughout the course; (ii) To analyze the perceptions of professional students about the definition and processes of unlearning; (iii) To evaluate the unlearning experienced by professional students during the course; and (iv) To identify the facilities and barriers faced by professional students in the unlearning process in MPAs. Regarding the methodological aspects that guided the research, it is configured as a basic qualitative, exploratory approach, whose data collection occurred in two moments: the application of a form to identify the competencies and the second, interviews with a semi-structured script, carried out with students from 3 (three) MPAs programs in the Brazilian northeast. The data analysis was carried out in a comprehensive-interpretative way. The competencies indicated as developed during the course were: “Teamwork”, “Teaching courses and lectures”, “Flexibility and adaptability”, “Management of processes and projects under their responsibility” and “Prospecting knowledge in public management”. Regarding the definition of unlearning, the interviewees related it to learning, highlighting that it can occur through forgetfulness or through a conscious choice to abandon obsolete knowledge, values or behaviors to accommodate new learning. The experiences reported mostly involve low or medium cognitive effort, such as adapting to the master's program environment and gradually transforming previous practices. Deeper unlearning, which requires high cognitive effort, was mentioned less frequently. Facilities and barriers include the student's willingness to accept changes and the role of institutions in creating environments that favor reflection and revision, promoting the abandonment of the irrelevant. Therefore, the process of unlearning, when related to the development of skills, presents itself through two purposes: first, as a means of adapting to the context in which the individual is inserted, through awareness and recognition of the need to set aside everything that may hinder the acquisition of new learning; and second, by assuming the role of creating space for the acquisition of new knowledge.