ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare the National Curriculum for Public Relations of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, reflecting on the qualification in higher education. The methodology relies on bibliographical research and documentation support. The results showed that only Brazil has specific curriculum guidelines for the field. Regarding the course load, there are significant differences between the countries. And in relation to this scenario, which inserts the profession of Public Relations in digital culture, we realized that such a change is incipient when discussed by the Brazilian official documentation. Also, another point observed is that in Argentina and in Uruguay the courses have the autonomy to create contents.

Keywords
Higher Education; Public Relations; Curriculum Guidelines; Digital Culture

RESUMO

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo comparar as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais de Relações Públicas de Brasil, Argentina e Uruguai, refletindo sobre a formação no ensino superior. A metodologia conta com pesquisa bibliográfica e amparo documental. Os resultados mostraram que há diretrizes curriculares específicas para a área apenas no Brasil. A respeito da carga horária, há diferença significativa entre os países. E em relação ao presente cenário, que insere a profissão de Relações Públicas na cultura digital, percebemos que tal mudança é discutida de forma incipiente pela documentação oficial brasileira. Ademais, outro ponto observado é que, na Argentina e no Uruguai, os cursos têm autonomia para criar conteúdos.

Palavras-chave
Ensino Superior; Relações Públicas; Diretrizes Curriculares; Cultura Digital

Introduction

One of the key practices that transform the world of work is communication. Barichello (2009BARICHELLO, Eugenia Maria Mariano da Rocha. Apontamentos sobre as Estratégias de Comunicação Mediadas por Computador nas Organizações Contemporâneas. In: KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling (Org.). Comunicação Organizacional: histórico, fundamentos e processos. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2009. P. 337-353.) described the implication of this scenario in organizations and, consequently, among communication managers, emphasizing the interactivity with the public and the convergence provided by the environment:

Such challenges are faced by the Public Relations field¹ 1 There are two possible classifications: Public Relations, with hyphen, and Public Relations, without hyphen. The former designates the professional and the latter, the activity. Source: Ordinance No. 116, May 09, 2011, Conferp. Available at: <http://www.conferp.org.br/?p=2728>. Access on: 12 May 2017. as a profession and also are a concern related to the academic training of new professionals. This is an issue that emerges when we reflect on the relationship of theory and practice as supporting spheres of the curricular proposals.

About 3.2 billion people (corresponding to approximately 40% of the world population) are estimated to have access to the internet, according to the G1 website² 2 Available at: <goo.gl/dqYZWM>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017. . Thus, the global scenario changes amid the growing digital culture, establishing new ways of being, thinking and acting with support of the possibilities offered by digital information and communications technologies. However, are the University courses of Public Relations attentive to such changes? And in Brazil, are we in accordance with close realities, such as those from neighboring countries, like Argentina and Uruguay?

Under this bias, the questions of this study are justified, as we seek to understand an issue relevant to the Public Relations field and to the higher education: To what extent the changes in the Curriculum Guidelines for higher education in Public Relations, today, considering the scenarios of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, are responding to the challenges of digital culture?

From the theoretical perspective, this study focuses on Higher Education Policies, which, according to Franco and Bittar (2006FRANCO, Maria Estela Dal Pai; BITTAR, Marisa. Políticas Públicas da Educação Superior (Org.). In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Ed.). Enciclopédia de Pedagogia Universitária: glossário. v. 2. Brasília: INEP, 2006. P. 163-209. , p. 166):

The authors complement that the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCNs) are terms related to the Higher Education Policies. In the interim, the aim of this article is to analyze and establish a comparison between DCNs of Public Relations from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, considering the current higher education training in the field and the challenges of digital culture. Thus, we intend to verify if and how the different curricular proposals of the undergraduate courses include contents and activities that address the digital culture, by reading the documentation about the area in the countries studied regarding training changes.

With this goal in mind, the trends of the world of work and of the curricula are never compliant. Barichello (2008BARICHELLO, Eugenia Maria Mariano da Rocha. Ensino das Profissões Midiáticas: trajetória do curso de comunicação da UFSM. In: MOURA, Claudia Peixoto de (Org.). História das Relações Públicas: fragmentos da memória de uma área. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, 2008. P. 536-551., p. 536) stresses the importance of higher education studies for communication professionals, as the training consists of “[...] one way of understanding its performance, both in the academic and in the professional context, especially regarding the recognition of its identity contours.”

To carry out the study proposal, besides the bibliographical review, the main method used to conduct the study is the document analysis, which includes records that serve as a relevant source on the subject. For the construction of the text, we surveyed specific references of the area in Brazil: Resolution No. 2, September 27, 2013 (Brasil, 2013BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Resolução nº 2, de 27 de setembro de 2013. Institui as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do curso de graduação em Relações Públicas. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 1 out. 2013. Seção 1. P. 28-29. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://goo.gl/Hl02iM >. Acesso em: 2 out. 2013.
http://goo.gl/Hl02iM... ); and wider Resolutions for higher education in Argentina and Uruguay, for lacking specific documents: Resolution No. 6, February 13, 1997 (Argentina, 1997ARGENTINA. Ministério de Cultura e Educação. Resolução nº 6, 13 de fevereiro de 1997. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/WgAvNG >. Acesso em: 4 abr. 2017.
https://goo.gl/WgAvNG... ); Decree No. 104/14, April 24, 2014 (Uruguay, 2014URUGUAI. Ministério de Educação e Cultura . Decreto nº 104/14. Diário Oficial, Montevideo, 28 abr. 2014. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/15jSRq ​>. Acesso em: 04 abr. 2017.
https://goo.gl/15jSRq... ).

Considering the character that we suggested for this study, we brought the concept of comparison in education as a history of meanings (Cunha; Isaia, 2006CUNHA, Maria Isabel da; ISAIA, Silvia de Maria Aguiar. Professor da Educação Superior. In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Ed.). Enciclopédia de Pedagogia Universitária: glossário. v. 2. Brasília: INEP, 2006. P. 349-406. ), i.e. the meanings that different communities give to their actions and that allow them to build and rebuild the world. In this sense, the article presents the reality of the guidelines in the Public Relations field of the three countries aforementioned, which will be analyzed and, next, compared in general terms. It is an attempt that does not claim the singular explanation, but that acknowledges itself on the complexity of meanings, understanding the limits of its interpretation. In this sense, it is understandable that the guidelines influence higher education through minimum training lines and that several other factors involve educational institutions, the management of courses and teaching staffs, which makes possible an updated statement in the area.

Training in the Age of Digital Culture

Digital culture has developed in the sense of communication and sociability through technological advancement. The users assumed the roles of content producers, presenting themselves as authors and social actors participating in unlimited networks of connections, by which information travels without boundaries. In this sense, as Bauman stresses (1999BAUMAN, Zygmunt. Turistas e Vagabundos. In: BAUMAN, Zygmunt. Globalização: as conseqüências humanas. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 1999. P. 85-110., p. 84), “[...] we are all on the move.” In the current context, this fact results from a dynamic with which we connect, via the internet, 24 hours a day. Spanish sociologist Castells (2008CASTELLS, Manuel. Creatividad, Innovación y Cultura Digital: un mapa de sus interacciones. Revista Telos, Madrid, n. 77, out./dez. 2008. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://telos.fundaciontelefonica.com/telos/articulocuaderno.asp@idarticulo=2&rev=77.htm >. Acesso em: 9 mar. 2017.
https://telos.fundaciontelefonica.com/te... ), in a dossier published by the magazine Telos, defines the digital culture in six topics:

Also according to the author, the culture of the internet is “[...] a technocratic belief in the progress of humans through technology” (Castells, 2003CASTELLS, Manuel. A Galáxia da Internet: reflexões sobre a internet, os negócios e a sociedade. Tradução: Maria Luiza Borges. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2003. , p. 53). Thus, a challenge emerges for higher education, that is, the issue is not only to teach technology and obtain metrics: we have to know what to do with all the data circulating. As stressed by Maciel (2009MACIEL, Adriana Moreira da Rocha. A Geratividade Docente na Educação Superior e os Movimentos (Trans)Formativos para o Desenvolvimento Profissional. In: ISAIA, Silvia de Maria Aguiar; BOLZAN, Doris Pires Vargas (Org.). Pedagogia Universitária e Desenvolvimento Profissional Docente. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, 2009. P. 281-298., p. 283), “[...] the mere reproduction of theories and methods does not prepare the professional to monitor the changeability of the world and the reality of its profession.”

As for education in Brazil, especially concerning Public Relations, the DCNs are parameters drawn up by the Ministry of Education to guide the training. According to Resolution No. 2, September 27, 2013 (Brasil, 2013BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Resolução nº 2, de 27 de setembro de 2013. Institui as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do curso de graduação em Relações Públicas. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 1 out. 2013. Seção 1. P. 28-29. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://goo.gl/Hl02iM >. Acesso em: 2 out. 2013.
http://goo.gl/Hl02iM... , p. 28):

The curriculum guidelines are, according to the National Council of Education (Brasil, 1997BRASIL. Ministério da Educação e do Desporto. Parecer CNE nº 776, de 3 de dezembro de 1997. Orienta para as diretrizes curriculares dos cursos de graduação. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 03 dez. 1997. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/oR8Hxi >. Acesso em: 27 mar. 2017.
https://goo.gl/oR8Hxi... ), guidelines for the preparation of curricula, which must be respected by all higher education institutions in the country, in any training areas. To ensure flexibility and the quality of education, the guidelines must observe the following principles:

Thus, CNE decided to adopt a common orientation for the guidelines, ensuring flexibility, creativity and responsibility for the institutions to create their curricular proposals. Nevertheless, as already mentioned, there are general lines that should guide the courses and educational institutions in the preparation of the Pedagogical Project of the Curriculum (PPC). Therefore, it is important to understand the theoretical-practical relationship, which breaks with the dichotomy present in the positivistic perception of science, in which the practice is understood as the application of the theory. In this perspective, the components integrate the didactic teaching system, which is something complex, with heterogeneous, interdefined and interdependent elements (Lucarelli, 2009LUCARELLI, Elisa. Teoria y Practica en la Universidad: la innovación em las aulas. Buenos Aires: Miño y D’Avila, 2009.).

Regarding the heterogeneous elements, in the debate on innovation in higher education, Carrasco (2013CARRASCO, María Zúñiga. Innovación en Educación Superior. In: SÁNCHEZ, Aurelio Villa (Ed.). Las Universidades como Generadoras de la Innovación: investigación, iniciativa y responsabilidad social. Costa Rica: Foro Internacional sobre Innovación Universitaria, 2013. P. 35-60., p. 49) adds that:

The way the curricular discussion has been conceived and organized, in the context of higher education, obstructs the thinking of proposals and teaching mediation able to respond to different demands of the knowledge society and the world of work, which need to be raised and dealt with within the University.

The representations of the University professors, graduated following a monodisciplinary and specialization logic, have created difficulties for the imaginative exercise of other curricular designs.

This conception, in areas other than teacher training, configures a specialized professionalism, not allowing, in the University space, the rewiring of knowledge, which, in the world of work and life, are inter-related. The isolation of some curricular proposals of the professional domain and of the demands of the current society produces, in the student, after entering in his/her field, the feeling that he/she was prepared for challenges that have changed.

Now, in a time of constant changes, due to the expansion of digital culture, the context of higher education of Public Relations in the digital culture is in the midst of complexity. As a result, it is not possible to study it in a generic way, because it would be implied the risk of covering specific perspectives.

The advancement of the internet and the expansion of digital media created a mismatch between the world of work and the courses that prepare Public Relations professionals. The rapid pace of the technological development, coupled to all social activities, to some extent, lags behind the course. The media are not exclusively digital, and the traditional media can have an online version.

For Negroponte (1995NEGROPONTE, Nicholas. A Vida Digital. Tradução: Sérgio Tellaroli. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1995. , p. 22), “[...] one of the reasons why the media have become digital so fast is the fact that we have achieved high levels of understanding much faster than most people expected.” In this sense, the role of the Public Relations professional needs to be rethought not only because of the world of work and their new requirements, but also regarding the meaning of the profession to society.

In a way, the digital content has greater or lesser insertion in a PPC, depending on the emphasis and on the teaching staff, except for the DCNs, which must support each project. The centrality of communication in the contemporary society involves the strengthening of this field of study in the academia. More than to adopt a set of technical knowledge for the improvement of contemporary communicative practices, the development of theoretical bases that allow the understanding of the digital era is essential. In this sense, the resources can no longer be seen as something complementary to the context of the integrated communication. For Kunsch (2008KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling. A Pesquisa e a Produção Científica em Comunicação no Brasil e sua Integração com a Sociedade. In: MOREIRA, Sonia Virginia; VIEIRA, João Pedro Dias (Org.). Comunicação: ensino e pesquisa. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 2008. P. 27-50.), the integrated communication is composed of various forms of communication (institutional, marketing, internal and administrative), allowing the synergistic activity of an organization’s policy in an integrated manner. In other words, the digital scenario cannot be an appendix of Public Relations work, it needs to be the central focus.

For Grunig (2009GRUNIG, James. Uma Teoria Geral das Relações Públicas: quadro teórico para o exercício da profissão. In: GRUNIG, James; FERRARI, Maria Aparecida; FRANÇA, Fábio. Relações Públicas: teoria, contexto e relacionamentos. 1. ed. São Caetano do Sul: Difusão Editora, 2009. P. 15-111.), the digital scenario is reflected in the activity of Public Relations professionals, assigning a degree of flexibility and accuracy of the information, in real time, which, recently, was not part of the reality of the communicator, with more speed and interactivity.

The Trajectory of Higher Education of Public Relations in Brazil

Considering the creation of the Journalism course at Universidade do Distrito Federal in 1947 as a historical landmark, the teaching of communication, in Brazil, began 70 years ago. The training in the area was first linked to Journalism, because of its precursors being, originally, members of the press, but there was a reference to Public Relations (Moura, 2002MOURA, Cláudia Peixoto de. O Curso de Comunicação Social no Brasil: do currículo mínimo às novas diretrizes curriculares. Porto Alegre: EDPUCRS, 2002.).

The first Public Relations course, lasting four years, was created 20 years later, in 1967, with the foundation of the School of Cultural Communication, at Universidade de São Paulo, known currently as the School of Communication and Arts (Teixeira, 2002TEIXEIRA, João Evangelista. Relações Públicas na Umesp: 30 anos de História. São Bernardo do Campo: UMESP, 2002. ). During this period, the Law No. 5377 was sanctioned (Brasil, 1967BRASIL. Lei n. 5.377, de 11 de dezembro de 1967. Disciplina a Profissão de Relações Públicas e dá outras providências. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 12 dez. 1967. Seção 1. P. 12477. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/cgmPnK >. Acesso em: 12 dez. 2016.
https://goo.gl/cgmPnK... ), regulating the profession and making Brazil the first country in the world to adopt specific legislation for Public Relations. This fact sparked the creation of several faculties and departments at national level.

According to Campanella (2008CAMPANELLA, Lana D’Ávila. Estudo da Bibliografia na Disciplina: “teorias de relações públicas” dos cursos de relações públicas brasileiros - uma análise das obras básicas utilizadas na disciplina. 2008. 303 f. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação) - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2008. p. 68-69), “[...] the number of faculties of communication, in Brazil, in 1974 - not all offering the Public Relations course - was 54, being 15 in São Paulo, 10 in Rio de Janeiro, and the remaining ones in other states.” The quality of education provided was problematic, according to Marques de Melo (2007MARQUES DE MELO, José. A Batalha da Qualidade no Ensino de Comunicação: novos (antigos) desafios. In: KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling (Org.). Ensino de Comunicação: qualidade na formação acadêmico-profissional. São Paulo: ECA-USP; Intercom, 2007. P. 33-41.), with programs that were outdated and distant from the Brazilian reality.

In 1984, a new minimum curriculum was formulated, with Resolution No. 02/84, which, according to Moura (2002MOURA, Cláudia Peixoto de. O Curso de Comunicação Social no Brasil: do currículo mínimo às novas diretrizes curriculares. Porto Alegre: EDPUCRS, 2002.), brought infrastructure demands for facilities, laboratories and proper equipment for vocational training in different areas of communication, in addition to mandatory experimental projects in Public Relations courses. The redemocratization process in Brazil, which triggered direct elections in 1984, helped the profession to leave the governmental bias, tied to ceremonial and protocol procedures during the period of military governments, and started inserting itself into the organizational domain (Moura, 2002MOURA, Cláudia Peixoto de. O Curso de Comunicação Social no Brasil: do currículo mínimo às novas diretrizes curriculares. Porto Alegre: EDPUCRS, 2002.).

The 1990s denoted a particularly important landmark due to the development of the internet and the emergence of digital technologies. This period also stands out because of the discussions for the implementation of DCNs, which entered into force at the beginning of the following decade. Amid the advances, in the 2000s, many Public Relations courses were created in Brazil³ 3 Inep/Mec data indicated that in July 2009 there were 127 accredited on-site courses in the country. . Discussions on the professional’s profile continued at the beginning of the new millennium. Currently, according to the Inep/Mec⁴ 4 Available at: <http://portal.inep.gov.br/censo-da-educacao-superior>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017. , 76 Public Relations courses are in operation. A change that can affect teaching, but that still does not reflect on higher education, are the DCNs for the Public Relations field, adopted in 2013, which are presented next.

The 2013 National Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations in Brazil

Although no specific reference was made to the emergence of digital culture, the 2013 document that establishes the Public Relations DCNs mentions that the professional should be in command of the communicational process of different media. Another document guidance is stated in general principles, referring to the issue of updating courses, which are hold responsible for the offer of conditions, to students, so they develop knowledge and practices in digital media, with updated technological resources and constant training of the teaching staff (Brasil, 2013BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Resolução nº 2, de 27 de setembro de 2013. Institui as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do curso de graduação em Relações Públicas. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 1 out. 2013. Seção 1. P. 28-29. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://goo.gl/Hl02iM >. Acesso em: 2 out. 2013.
http://goo.gl/Hl02iM... ).

In comparison with the old guidelines, approved in 2001 (Brasil, 2002BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Parecer CNE/CES nº 1.363, de 12 de dezembro de 2001. Retifica o Parecer CNE/CES nº 492/2001, de 4 de julho de 2001, publicado no Diário Oficial da União de 9 de julho de 2001, seção 1E, página 50, favorável à aprovação dos Projetos de Resolução que instituem as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais dos cursos de Filosofia, História, Geografia, Serviço Social, Comunicação Social, Ciências Sociais, Letras, Biblioteconomia, Arquivologia e Museologia. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 29 jan. 2002. Seção 1 P. 60. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/DkMMhC >. Acesso em: 2 out. 2013.
https://goo.gl/DkMMhC... ), which were not specific to the Public Relations field, there are three new aspects: the mandatory curricular internship, the increase in the mandatory minimum course load (from 2,700 to 3,200 hours) and the presentation of the structure, which, from basic and complementary content went on to be described in areas, with four provided aspects and study of the digital scenario. Although they are qualitatively shy, in terms of scope, they alter the current structure of the courses in the country.

The implementation of the 2013 guidelines, compared with the previous ones, brought a timid breakthrough regarding the digital scenario. Among other factors, the low participation of academic and professional communities in the discussion process, both in the virtual consultation and in the public hearings, possibly contributed to this result.

The structure that covers the curricular content of the Public Relations course presents an organization into four areas: General Training; Communication; Public Relations; Additional Training. In Communication, the document provides for studies on the digital scenario in two items: a) studies of media, information and communications technology, and b) studies on cyberculture. In Public Relations, there are two items aimed at the digital scenario: a) crisis management, institutional writing, production of printed, audiovisual and digital media, and b) network communication.

That is, of the total of four areas, only half of these include issues related to the digital scenario. Overall, there are four items, focusing on the issue of ICT and media studies (in the broader scope of Social Communication) and digital media production and network communication (specifically in Public Relations). This shows gaps of various functions and activities that may be of the Public Relations field in the digital scenario, such as measurement, campaigns, consulting, for instance. Rhoden (2013RHODEN, Valmor. O Ensino Superior de Relações Públicas: formação digital, práticas e desafios na UFSM. 2013. 331 f. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação Social) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social, Faculdade de Comunicação Social, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2013.) conducted a survey through the Digital Public Relations Study Group, coordinated by ABRACOM (Brazilian Association of Communication Agencies), in 2010, applied to 197 communication professionals from different communication agencies from Brazil that presented the five most offered services by agencies in the country: social networking content management (69%), monitoring/auditing (57%), management of corporate blogs (55%), activation of promotional campaigns (53%), and social media consulting (47%). Data indicate that measurement has been the most frequent service in agencies nowadays. And the services that clients sought the most were: networking content management (51%), monitoring/auditing (42%), activation of promotional campaigns (33%), management of corporate blogs (31%), and social media consulting (29%).

What we can observe, based on the research, is that the world of work focuses on a management profile of these digital communication processes, with emphasis on the use, monitoring and updates of social networks. The need to measure the return that communication provides becomes, increasingly, an essential factor in the communicational process, even to justify the investment. In the digital environment, there are tools and evaluation programs available and, through them, these possibilities are extended, demonstrating, effectively, the results they provide to businesses.

Amid the process of transformations, it is possible to claim that the updated guidelines serve to indicate what is expected from a Public Relations professional in the digital scenario and regarding their communication skills and competencies, so that students do not have a disproportionate education in relation to other communication areas. In Brazil, all Public Relations courses are bachelor’s degrees. In Argentina, the situation is different, as we shall see in the following session.

Public Relations in Argentina

According to Ferrari (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 6), Public Relations in Argentina have emerged “[...] in the colonial times, when the first ‘lobbyists,’ against the Spanish trusteeship, were members of the first governing body of 1810.” However, the author states that, officially, the birth of the function occurred only in the mid-twentieth century.

Despite the presence of big companies, where professionals performed the Public Relations function, until the early 1960s the position was usually occupied by journalists in Argentina. This happened because, until then, there was no formal academic education in the field.

With the arrival of Frondizi as President in 1958, and the insertion of his developmental policy of opening up to foreign capital, Argentina’s economy took another dimension. Multinational companies that already existed in the country began to grow in volume, especially railcars and oil companies. At that time, the country began making contact with what was going on abroad, including in the business communication framework. Other important dates of the period are also mentioned by Ferrari (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 9):

In 1962, a vocational course at the School of Public Relations was opened. According to Kemp (2014KEMP, Laura. As Relações Públicas na América do Sul. Buenos Aires, 2014. (Apresentação em slides). Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/RE4wgh >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2017.
https://goo.gl/RE4wgh... ), in 1964, the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa opened the first Public Relations course that issued the University title approved by the Ministry of Education. In 1968, the Public Relations course at the Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy was inaugurated. In 1972, training in the area was created by Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora and the Universidad de Morón also established its course.

In the political scenario, the 1970s were turbulent in Argentina, with Perón’s short second period, followed by his wife’s, Isabelita. Then, with the arrival of the new military government and the closing of the Congress, the country took other directions. According to Ferrari (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 10):

Between the decades of 1960 and 1980, the nationalist sentiment arose in Argentina against the North-American force. Governments systematically fostered nationalism, which also served to justify the white elephant into which the State had been converted. The multinational companies maintained their numbers for decades. Until the mid-1980s, the local papers did not dedicate a space for business news. Besides not having economic supplements, the section aimed to the theme was occupied by issues regarding the government economic policy and macroeconomics. In view of this, the high demand from the students who enrolled in Public Relations in the 1970s took the universities by surprise.

In the late 1980s, the process was identical to the Brazilian one, in the sense that there was more communication and an increased need for this sector, as Ferrari explains (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 10): “In the private area, the outsourcing era had started [...] and in the early 1990s, the privatization of state-owned enterprises and its consequent rationalization.” These factors boosted the profession in Argentina.

In the 2000s, the field grew due to the creation of several communication agencies, among them, Edelman Argentina, one of the leaders in corporate communications in the world. In relation to the areas of greatest expertise in Public Relations, the country’s most developed ones were those of press relations, followed by financial communications, strategic planning, crisis management and event organization, in addition to ceremonial and protocol, services that are also very widespread in the country.

In Argentina, 47 Public Relations courses⁵ 5 Data from the Ministerio de Educación y Deportes de Argentina. Available at: <http://titulosoficiales.siu.edu.ar>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017. are in operation today, being 27 of undergraduate level and 20 of pregrado (which equals, in Brazil, to a vocational course). Despite this, the profession has not been regulated yet.

Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations in Argentina

In Argentina, the Resolution No. 6/96 establishes a minimum course load of 2,600 hours for undergraduate courses in the country. In relation to the minimum contents for higher education, careers are divided into two types, listed in Law No. 24521 (Argentina, 1995ARGENTINA. Ministério de Cultura e Educação. Lei de Educação Superior, nº 24.521, de 20 de julho de 1995. Boletim Oficial (n. 28.204), Buenos Aires, 10 ago. 1995. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/izs94t >. Acesso em: 20 jun. 2017.
https://goo.gl/izs94t... ), in its articles 42 and 43. Some areas are regulated by the government, while others are not. The latter ones, to which Public Relations belong, do not have minimum contents. Therefore, the course descriptions of this area depend on each University.

As to the nomenclature, undergraduate courses are called: teaching degree in public and institutional relations. In vocational courses (pregrado), however, public relations analyst is predominant.

In the following section we provide details about the Uruguayan higher education dedicated to the Public Relations field.

Public Relations in Uruguay

Public Relation activities in Uruguay formally emerged in the government sector, in the 1950s, with the creation of a specialized department in the Armed Forces. In the 1960s, the state-owned company ANCAP (National Administration of Fuels, Alcohol, and Portland) was a pioneer, after establishing a Department of Public Relations.

In Uruguay, the entities of the category also had a decisive role in the development of Public Relations. “[...] Radeck Balcárcel, Public Relations manager of ANCAP and undersecretary of the newspaper El País at the time, encouraged the creation of the Asociación Uruguaya de Relaciones Públicas (AURP)” (Ferrari, 2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 13). The Association, established on September 19, 1962, highlights in its bylaws three key goals:

Ferrari (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 14) also highlights the creation of the first courses of the field in Uruguay:

Since 1968 and throughout the 1970s, AURP began to offer National Days, presenting itself at inter-American events. In 1981, the association sponsored courses in vocational level with the Center for Studies and Qualification from Uruguay and, in 1983, it was responsible for organizing the first World Meeting of Public Relations Teachers (Ferrari, 2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... ).

In the 1980s, the courses were reorganized by AURP, being divided into three levels: vocational (one year), Public Relations consultant (two years) and manager (three years). AURP, in such a way, formally contributed to the training of the area, with a decisive response by the students of Public Relations, which yearned for knowledge that could be applied in their professional activities. The courses promoted by the entity spread over Uruguay, covering 20 cities. In this scenario, local entities were established, all endorsed by AURP (Ferrari, 2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... ). According to Ferrari (2004FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais...Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf >. Acesso em: 22 jun. 2015.
http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/nacion... , p. 14), in the 2000s:

Presently, it is possible to have a teaching degree in Social Communication, not Public Relations specifically, at undergraduate level in four educational institutions in the country: Universidad ORT, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Universidad de Montevideo and Universidad de la República. The University Business offers a master’s degree in Corporate Communications and Public Relations.

In Uruguay, University courses have a duration of four years. There are also universities that offer one- and two-year options, such as the Universidade de la Empresa, with the Public Relations Analyst one-year long course, and the Universidad ORT, with the two-year long courses of Analyst of Corporate Communications and Public Relations, and the two-year long Vocational Course of Public Relations and Event Management.

The Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay offers vocational training and has a two-year course, granting the title of Social Communication Technician. Vocational institutes, on the other hand, generally offer one-year courses.

Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations in Uruguay

In Uruguay, Decree No. 104/14 (Uruguay, 2014URUGUAI. Ministério de Educação e Cultura . Decreto nº 104/14. Diário Oficial, Montevideo, 28 abr. 2014. Disponível em: <Disponível em: https://goo.gl/15jSRq ​>. Acesso em: 04 abr. 2017.
https://goo.gl/15jSRq... ) grants recognition to Universities and to institutes on the several courses offered, only considering the minimum course load of 2,200 hours. Concerning curriculum or content guidelines, there is no guidelines on the part of the Uruguayan Ministry of Education, that is, each institution has autonomy regarding the courses offered.

According to the President of AURP, Juan Pablo Topalian (2015TOPALIAN, Juan Pablo. Asociación Uruguaya de Relaciones Públicas. [mensagem pessoal]. Mensagem recebida por vrhoden6@gmail.com em 13 set. 2015. )⁶ 6 Excerpt taken from an electronic message sent to the authors, according to the list of references. , the country has:

The request for a title to exercise the profession in the country is quite recent, since the official graduate and vocational courses are more than 15 years old. Today, it is common the requirement of training in one of these courses to search for vacancies in the world of work. AURP is working on the development of a legislation for Public Relations and a professional record, however, there is still no date for promulgation.

Brief Comparative Analysis between the Guidelines of the three Countries

As seen in this article, in Brazil, the DCNs for Public Relations were published in 2013. In Argentina and in Uruguay, there are no specific documents for the field, only a broad legislation related to the guidelines for higher education. In both countries, the courses and institutions have autonomy in relation to the syllabus content.

In this part of the discussion, Franco and Bittar’s vision confirms the importance of Higher Education Policies (2006FRANCO, Maria Estela Dal Pai; BITTAR, Marisa. Políticas Públicas da Educação Superior (Org.). In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Ed.). Enciclopédia de Pedagogia Universitária: glossário. v. 2. Brasília: INEP, 2006. P. 163-209. , p. 166):

In view of this and based on the content exposed here, Chart 1, below, shows a comparative synthesis of the three countries, pointing out the main differences in relation to higher education in Public Relations in the current scenario, digital development followed by a more detailed explanation on the information provided in the chart. Only the training referring specifically to the field of Public Relations and not to Social Communication are described.

Regarding the graduate profile, the Brazilian guidelines have the following provision:

As there are no guidelines in Argentina and in Uruguay, there is no description of the graduate profile in both countries. On the competencies of the graduate concerning the digital scenario, as mentioned earlier, the Brazilian guidelines have two references in the Public Relations axis - crisis management, institutional writing, production of printed, audiovisual and digital media, and network communication. Just like in the profile issue, this item description was not found for Argentina and Uruguay.

Regarding the study period, in Brazil, the minimum course load increased in 500 hours, following the 2013 guidelines, from 2,700 to 3,200. In Argentina, the minimum course load required is 2,600 hours. In Uruguay, the minimum course load for undergraduate courses is 2,200 hours.

As to the internship, this item is mandatory only in Brazil, being added to recent guidelines. In the other two countries analyzed, the requirement of this activity is not listed as one of the training elements.

Concerning the structure, as already reported in Brazil’s descriptive section, the country has four specific training areas. In Argentina and Uruguay, the course description is still flexible, with more autonomy in curriculum organization, however, it has no guidelines that orient studies in Public Relations.

Finally, it is still interesting to consider the terminology of the area, an issue discussed earlier in the article. In Brazil, although there are some exceptions, the training is known as Public Relations, justified by its regulation, in 1967. In Argentina and Uruguay, other classifications appear, as shown in the descriptive sessions of both countries, especially Public Relations Analyst and Teaching degree in Public Relations.

Final Considerations

Digital technology has many amenities, but also represents a challenge for the undergraduate courses - particularly in the field of Public Relations, subject of this discussion. In this scenario, the society undergoes many transformations, which are not always accompanied by higher education institutions. In her study, Terra (2006TERRA, Carolina Frazon. Digital: o futuro das relações públicas na rede. 2006. 173 p. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação) - Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2006., p. 66) described the “[...] birth of the digital organizational communication and digital public relations, both arising from the phenomenon of digitalization and the evolution of society.” That is, for a decade, the digital scenario has been part, in an incisive way, of Public Relations work and has been seen as an object of study.

In the interim, as Castells reinforces (2003CASTELLS, Manuel. A Galáxia da Internet: reflexões sobre a internet, os negócios e a sociedade. Tradução: Maria Luiza Borges. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2003. , p. 212), the educational system, as a whole, in the world, “[...] is, for all I know, unfortunately unsuitable for the use of this new learning method [...] It lacks teachers able to use it efficiently, in addition to pedagogy and institutional organization to stimulate new learning skills.”

Higher education is the one that prepares or should prepare the professional for the world of work. Therefore, what is reflected on this article, comparing the Brazilian reality with those from other countries regionally close, is the issue that Higher Education in Public Relations has to incorporate, more substantially, the field into the digital domain, so this becomes a perspective of business and expansion to the professional life. However, according to Carrasco (2013CARRASCO, María Zúñiga. Innovación en Educación Superior. In: SÁNCHEZ, Aurelio Villa (Ed.). Las Universidades como Generadoras de la Innovación: investigación, iniciativa y responsabilidad social. Costa Rica: Foro Internacional sobre Innovación Universitaria, 2013. P. 35-60., p. 46), we have seen that:

Corroborating this view, in terms of guidelines, we observed, throughout this article, that, among the three countries, only Brazil has specific documentation for Public Relations, and only since 2013. Previously, the field integrated the broader guidelines for the field of social communication. In the case of Public Relations, the MEC documents that determine its curricula are from 1969, 1978 and 1984, in addition to the National Curriculum Guidelines from 2002 and 2013, which were specific.

For Moura (2002MOURA, Cláudia Peixoto de. O Curso de Comunicação Social no Brasil: do currículo mínimo às novas diretrizes curriculares. Porto Alegre: EDPUCRS, 2002., p. 245), “[...] the guidelines are paths, recommendations for educational institutions.” These are guidelines for higher education, for the curricular planning of undergraduate courses specified by the National Education Council (CNE). Law No. 9394/96 - National Educational Bases and Guidelines Law (LDB) - establishes, in the item II of Art. 53, when referring to the University autonomy, that it is up to the University: “[...] to set the curricula of its courses and programs, in compliance with the relevant general guidelines” (Brasil, 1996BRASIL. Lei nº 9.394, de 20 de dezembro de 1996. Estabelece as diretrizes e bases da educação nacional. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 23 dez. 1996. P. 27833. Disponível em: <Disponível em: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/L9394.htm >. Acesso em: 10 nov. 2017.
http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/lei... , art. 53). This is an instrument that makes it possible to define the educational activity of the institution in amplitude, i.e. gives freedom to courses regarding the field. The presence of the digital scenario is little described, going against current changes in the world of work.

In view of the data exposed, it is understood that the DCNs can be deployed in an avant-garde mode, considering the local and regional needs in PPCs, with more references to the digital scenario. This involves a system that integrates what is expected from the professionals, graduate profile, their skills and abilities, in accordance with relevant legislation and professional opportunities.

In Brazil, although there is specific documentation, there are also gaps, both in the curricular structure and in the participation of interested institutions, especially in the multimedia scenario that involves our society. In the neighboring countries analyzed here, Argentina and Uruguay, one of the main factors that still requires breakthroughs is the structuring of a specific guiding document, stressing the need to broaden discussions about the world of work in Public Relations concerning the digital age.

Referências

Notes

Publication Dates

History