Brazilian High School system went through huge legislative and curricular changes in the year of 2017. Such alterations happened during a political moment with low stability, a moment that faced criticism by professors, students, syndicates and many other school communities’ participants. In several debates, one of the most recurrent criticism was related to the neoliberal ideological perspective that such changes possessed. This doctoral research is aimed at verifying which would be the implemented neoliberal precepts in Brazilian educational public politics in high school and certificate programs, and also, their implications in educational practice inside Federal Institutes. In the first research stage, I am building up a conceptual and theoretical frame about neoliberalism and educational politics in Brazil. In order to do so, it is necessary to analyze in what way precepts for a neoliberal education are defined, based on authors such as Gentili (1995), Apple (2005), Teodoro (2011) and Boia (2003). These references describe which elements, such as politics, are consisted of and how they are applied to educational public politics in various countries. By taking these considerations and concepts into account, I analyze the educational public politics in Brazil, named as the “High School Reform”, law 13.415/17 and the Common National Curricular Base (BNCC – Base Nacional Comum Curricular) for High School in relation to Art, verifying which neoliberal ideology implications in both analyzed proposals were. I intend to present, in the end of the research, which were the effects caused by such politics in the educational legislation for high schools in Brazil and in the art curriculum to be applied in schools. 

Since this research understands that a critical analysis of documents and bibliography is a necessary exercise, the use of the social-critical paradigm is fundamental, which is based on Marxist and neo-marxist precepts, as well as on precepts from the School of Frankfurt and from Paulo Freire in Brazil. In this sense, it is key to know that clashes, class conflict, and oppressive movements are present in the educational process, whether in repression or inertia, or in innovation and change. The analysis departs from this clarification and is conducted by critical thinking. In the end, I intend to clarify and unveil certain (pre) conceptions, practices and actions, by systematizing a critical reflection about the issue observed and also by suggesting alternatives in order to promote transformation. The research has a qualitative approach of facts through an explicative perspective. The explicative research, according to Severino (2007, pg.123). “is that which, besides registering and analyzing the studied phenomena, tries to identify their causes” (…). Such approach helps with the research process because, besides the identified facts, explaining the reasons why they happened, through a social-critical point of view, is of unique importance. Bibliographical support was done by selecting public documents and already cited bibliography such as the law 13.415/17 and the Common National Curricular Base (BNCC) concerning art, in order to analyze them in an explicative and critical way, the neoliberal ideologies relations and the educational public politics proposals are taken into account.

Oncethe theoretical references are taken into account, it is possible to see that educational public politics in some countries such as the USA, England and Chile, in the 1970s, had neoliberal precepts as foundation, especially when education is seen as merchandise and not as a basic right. Some aspects such as meritocracy, teachers destabilization, vouchers and the public schools devaluation are methods that have shown unsatisfactory results in public education improvement. In Brazil, some of these strategies have been in use, the devaluation of public educational sectors mainly, since the 1990s, and it may face other implications in 2017 with the curricular alterations. Therefore, at the end of this documental and bibliographical analysis, I intend to verify if there is any connection between the neoliberal ideology and the educational politics that are in effect in other countries and that are also described in the theoretical references, such as the suggested changes in the law 13.415/17 and the Common National Curricular Base (BNCC) in art.

Apple, M. (2005). Para além da lógica do mercado. Rio de Janeiro: Lamparina Editora. Boia, J. (2003). Educação e sociedade: neoliberalismo e os desafios do futuro. Lisboa: Edições Sílabo. Gentili, P. (1995). Pedagogia da exclusão: Crítica ao neoliberalismo na educação. Petrópolis: Vozes. Severino, A. (2007). Metodologia do trabalho científico. São Paulo: Cortez. Teodoro, A. (2011). A educação em tempos de globalização neoliberal. Os novos modos de regulação transnacional das políticas de educação. Campinas: Autores Associados.