Created in 1972 to cover pedagogical subjects in Unicamp's undergraduate courses, FE expanded its role in training professionals in Education with the opening of the undergraduate course in Pedagogy (1974) and the implementation of the master's degree (1975) and doctorate in Education (1980).
At the undergraduate level, the Faculty is responsible for the Pedagogy course and the Integrated Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry and Physics (shared with two other Unicamp units), and also offers subjects for the other undergraduate courses at the University.
Considered one of the most important in Latin America, its Postgraduate Program in Education plays a fundamental role in shaping the higher education workforce in Brazil. With the expansion of postgraduate studies in education, many masters and doctoral graduates from FE-Unicamp are responsible for establishing new programs in various regions of the country. Since 2011, FE has also trained educators in the Multi-Unit Postgraduate Program in Science and Mathematics Education (Pecim) , carried out in cooperation with the Institutes of Physics, Chemistry, and Geosciences at Unicamp.
Its faculty members are organized into research groups that address diverse themes in the field of education. Undergraduate and graduate students participate in the research undertaken by the groups, as well as researchers from the network of relationships that the unit maintains with institutions in various Brazilian states and countries such as Germany, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the United States, France, Italy, Portugal, and Uruguay. The numerous national and international cooperation agreements and partnerships have also fostered intense mobility of the unit's professors and graduate students among different institutions.
In the area of outreach , FE has a tradition of partnering with public bodies, which it serves with a series of actions, such as promoting training courses for teachers and managers of public education networks throughout the country, influencing the improvement of the Brazilian educational system.
The Faculty also has a sophisticated distance learning infrastructure – considered a model in the application of telecommunications resources in education, which allows for videoconferencing in teaching, research and events, in real time, for different remote locations and other countries.
The "Prof. Joel Martins" Library at the Faculty of Education has a specialized collection of 47 volumes, including books, theses, and periodicals. Part of its patrimony is the Maurício Tragtenberg Private Collection, composed of rare works, manuscripts, and personal objects of the intellectual, totaling 10 volumes. The FE's Center for Educational Memory also houses the Malba Tahan Private Collection (pseudonym of Professor Júlio César de Mello e Souza), composed of "Travel Diaries," "Personal Archive," and 120 works authored by him, 35 of which are on Mathematics Education.
More than qualifying professionals for teaching and research, FE effectively contributes to the formulation of national thinking on Education, through the proposal of policies and courses and the participation of its teachers in the various administrative and deliberative bodies at regional and national levels.