The study seeks to outline the conceptions of two federal public universities about the role and the importance of monitoring for higher education teaching, regarding the letter of the law and the view of some teachers and students. Teaching projects, interviews, statistical data about the distribution of grants and the legislation from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and the Universidade de Brasilia (UnB) were analyzed. In these institutions, the monitoring aims at contributing to the quality improvement of teaching, research and extension. Linked to the teaching process, the monitoring leads the teacher to engage the monitor in the classroom, planning and evaluation. The results reveal that the interest in monitoring provides incentive for higher education teaching, experience and enables the student-monitor to enrich his/her résumé beyond financial interests, encouraging the formation of critical knowledge in higher education.
monitoring; teacher training; teaching