Desafios e possibilidades da gestão democrática da escola: um estudo em três redes de ensino cearenses

Abstract

This study analyzes the democratic management of public schools in three education networks located in municipalities belonging to the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, in the State of Ceará. It assumes that democratic management is a constitutional principle, and must be implemented in all education systems in the country. However, there are different models of public school management in progress, and the legal treatment is also different, even in federal level. It aims to evaluate the content of the expression “democratic management of public schools”, unveiling its comprehension and extension, scope and complexity. To this end, it analyzes the legislation that regulates the matter, rescues the literature that reflects it, details the categories involved, their processes and products, also counting on the opinion of actors involved (students, teachers, school managers and educational managers) from three networks of different teaching. It included contributions from Amaral (2019), Libâneo (2001), Nascimento (2018), Paro (1999, 2001), and Vieira and Vidal (2014), among others, to reflect on constituent elements of democratic management, such as the pedagogical project, the school council, the student government and the selection of managers. Case studies and bibliographical research were used as research methods. The data collection technique was the interview, and the data analysis techniques were document analysis and content analysis. In its final considerations, it notes that democratic management presupposes the adoption of some daily practices by its agents, such as participation, transparency, and care with objective working conditions. Attention was drawn to the observation that the election of managers is not an element that guarantees democratic management, and that there are cases in which school managers manage to implement democratic management of the school, even though they have not participated in an elective process for this purpose.