O professor e a educação prisional: desafios e possibilidades de transformação

Abstract

This research investigated the role of teachers in the school education provided within the Brazilian prison system, as established by the Penal Execution Law (Lei de Execução Penal – LEP), which guarantees the right to education for people deprived of liberty. The study aimed to identify the challenges faced by teachers in prison schools and to understand how public education policies are implemented in this context. The investigation focused on prison units in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, using a qualitative approach that combined a literature review with semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers who work directly in this setting. The study explored how the prison environment influences teaching and pedagogical practice, as well as how teachers develop strategies to overcome structural, pedagogical, and social difficulties. The results revealed a conflict between the idealized principles of legislation and the operational realities experienced by teachers inside prisons. Indeed, teachers accounts showed that education within the prison context is not limited to pedagogical processes, but functions as an ethical-political practice permeated by symbolic and structural disputes, with disciplinary and biopolitical impacts.