Presence/absence of democratic-participatory methodologies in the political-pedagogical projects of schools in the city of Santana (Amapá, Brazil)

Abstract

This research analyzes the Political-Pedagogical Projects (PPP) of two state schools in the municipality of Santana (Amapá, Brazil), aiming to identify the presence and/or absence of democratic-participatory methodologies to be used with the school community. It dialogues with the perspectives of Perrenoud (2005) on the relationship between school and citizenship, Padilha (2002) on the requirements for producing a dialogical and democratic PPP, as well as with the insights of Thurler (2001) regarding the need for innovation within the school, and, finally, with the postulates of Giroux (1987) concerning the view on the intellectuality required for education agents. The research is documentary in nature and followed the procedures of the methodological sequence of Content Analysis, as proposed by Bardin (2016). The study reveals that the PPPs of the schools in question adopt a formal democratic discourse (as required by public education policy guidelines) but fail to implement concrete participatory methodologies. Thus, it is concluded that the documents are based on bureaucratic formalities when addressing democratic participation, thereby being distant from the reality and vulnerabilities of the school community.