This paper provides an in-depth analysis of an educational initiative in Brazil aiming to promote social inclusion through curriculum reform. The Plural School is a pioneering policy of the municipal government of Belo Horizonte, implemented since 1994. It forms part of the wave of educational democratization in the country inspired by the work of Paulo Freire. The initiative aims to address the severe social exclusion of segments of the population by radically altering school practices and structures. The reforms undertaken include the removal of grade repetition; attempts to integrate local and academic knowledge; involvement of the whole community in curriculum construction; movement from punitive to diagnostic assessment; introduction of Freirean dialogue into teacher-student relations; and the creation of participatory structures of decision-making.A qualitative case study was undertaken of the initiative, involving data collection in the Municipal Secretariat of Education and in two schools of the municipal network. Interviews were conducted with three coordinators, and, in the two focus schools, with the head teacher, three classroom teachers, and three groups of students aged 13-17 (a total of 17 interviews). Classroom observations were also carried out. Analysis was conducted of municipal curriculum documents and pedagogical materials at the school level.While the initiative has brought significant changes to schooling in the city, the study highlights a number of the challenges and difficulties faced, namely: opposition of many of the teachers; lack of understanding of the changes amongst students and the local communities; lack of time for the planning necessary to acheive interdisciplinarity; and the gradual shift from bottom-up systematization of experiences to top-down imposition of government policy. Finally, there is discussion of the extent to which meaningful curriculum change can occur in the context of a wider society that maintains contrary values.Apple, M. W., and Beane, J. A. (Eds.) (1999) Democratic Schools: Lessons from the Chalk Face. Buckingham: Open University Press. Castro, M., C., P., S. (2000) Escola Plural: a Função de uma Utopia . Paper presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the National Association of Educational Research and Graduate Studies (ANPED), Caxambu, Brazil, 24-28 September. Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Sheed and Ward. Freire, P. (1994) Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum. Gentili, P., & McCowan, T. (Eds.). (2003). Reinventar a Escola Publica: politica educacional para um novo Brasil. Petropolis: Vozes.Glória, D., M., A. & Mafra, L. de A. (2004) A prática da não-retenção escolar na narrativa de professores do ensino fundamental: dificuldades e avanços na busca do sucesso escolar. Educação e Pesquisa, 30 (2), 231-250.McCowan, T. (2006) Educating citizens for participatory democracy: a case study of local government education policy in Brazil. International Journal of Educational Development, 26, 456-470. McCowan, T. (2003). Participation and Education in the Landless People's Movement of Brazil. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 1(1). http://www.jceps.com/index.php?pageID=article&articleID=6 , accessed 14 March 2006. Mouffe, C. (1992). Dimensions of Radical Democracy: Pluralism and Citizenship. London: Verso. Silva, M. S. P. de & Mello, F. C. M. de (2001) Políticas para enfrentamento do fracasso escolar: Análise da Proposta Escola Plural de Belo Horizonte. Paper presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Educational Research and Graduate Studies (ANPED), Caxambu, Brazil, 7-11 October. SMED (Secretaria Municipal de Educação) (2002) II congresso politico-pedagogico da rede municipal de ensino/escola plural (3rd Ed.). Belo Horizonte: SMED. Unterhalter, E. (1999). Citizenship, Difference and Education: reflections inspired by the South African transition. In P. Werbner & N. Yuval-Davis (Eds.), Women, citizenship and difference (pp. 271). London: Zed.