Revolução científica do PPGExR: a emergência de novo paradigma para extensão rural

Abstract

It was in the context of agricultural production and dismantling of this appropriation, by capitalist enterprises that emerged in the United States of America, the cooperative extension. This model, is been known like the model, which served as the basis for the rural extension in Brazil and was subsequently replaced to the model innovative diffusion, proposed by Everett M. Rogers that became the hegemonic paradigm of diffusion and innovations to the scientific community of the rural extension. It is also represented by the courses and postgraduate programs in rural extension. A scientific community, like the Thomas Kuhn s thoughts (2007), is characterized as: a group of practitioners from the same scientific specialty that contain characteristics, like the: an education that was similar and that led them to share the same literature and certainly similar techniques that will guide their work. This scientific community develops a considerable number of surveys each year. So that is the key to become very important the reasons of this study of systematize the research and dissertations published in the Postgraduate Program in Rural Extension at the UFSM PPGExR, in the last 35 years ago, with this purposes: To investigate, from analysis of dissertations, specifically under the rural extension optics in PPGExR the existence of elements that may characterize periods of a scientific revolution according the Thomas Kuhn s thoughts (2007). For this, we used a qualitative research approach. The sampling procedure used was intentional, selecting those dissertations containing in his title some of the work s words: extensionist rural, extension or technical assistance and rural extension - ATER. Were prepared four conceptual maps identified in each of four different time periods, last in the PPGExR. The following concepts shown that: in the period number I, the hegemony paradigm of diffusion of innovations or the normal science, in period number II, the emergence of anomalies so that the dominant paradigm can t answer, in the period number III, the extraordinary science, in which know the anomalies consciousness characterizing the paradigmatic moment of crisis, the discoveries are being raised and new concepts are incorporated in period number IV, the new concepts are incorporated and breaking with the paradigm of innovation diffusion in the emergence of a new paradigm for the rural extension of course, is the scientific revolution happening in rural extension. So, it is concluded that the scientific community's rural extension, represented by PPGExR passed through a process of scientific revolution at the same way described by Thomas Kuhn (2007) where the diffusion of innovations paradigm was abandoned by the scientific community and an emerging paradigm is rising. Although still immature to indicate imperatively the existence and dominance of the new paradigm, which can be seen from this discussion, is that this new paradigm has an orientation from the Agro-ecology, based on dialogue and a liberating education and can be a paradigm of sustainability.