INTEGRATED MODEL OF LEGAL EDUCATION: ARTICULATION BETWEEN LECTURES, ACTIVE METHODOLOGIES, NATIONAL CURRICULAR GUIDELINES AND THE BRAZILIAN BAR EXAM

Abstract

This article presents and discusses an integrated model of legal education that articulates lectures and active methodologies, in dialogue with the National Curricular Guidelines for the Law course and with the competencies mobilized by the Brazilian Bar Exam. The text derives from qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive research, grounded in bibliographic review and documentary analysis, developed in a doctoral dissertation dedicated to the relationship between legal education, competency-based training, and active methodologies. It starts from the diagnosis that Brazilian legal education remains tensioned by a persistent contradiction between, on one hand, the generalist, critical, humanistic, and socially committed graduate profile foreseen in educational legislation and, on the other, the persistence of fragmented curricula, transmission-centered lecturing practices, and strong orientation toward external assessments. Based on Faria, Streck, and Severino, it is argued that this scenario does not result merely from isolated methodological choices, but from a historical formation marked by legalism, bachelorism, technicism, and the centrality of the normative text. In dialogue with Dewey, Freire, Ausubel, Moran, Knowles, Mezirow, and Illeris, it is argued that overcoming the dichotomy between lectures and active methodologies requires a pedagogical synthesis capable of preserving the conceptual density of Law while simultaneously fostering meaningful learning, problematization, autonomy, critical reflection, and the development of practical competencies. The article systematizes the normative and theoretical foundations of the model, describes its didactic and evaluative components, analyzes its potentials and limitations, and proposes pathways for institutional implementation. It is concluded that the planned and critical integration between problematizing lectures and active methodologies constitutes a consistent alternative for bringing together legal education, ethical-political commitment, professional performance, and contemporary regulatory requirements.