O conselho escolar como espaço de participação: uma reflexão sobre a prática democrática em uma escola pública

Abstract

This dissertation is developed within the scope of the Professional Master’s degree in Management and Evaluation of Education at the Center for Public Policy and Evaluation of Education at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (CAEd/UFJF). The case study addresses community participation in the decisions of the School Council of the Simão Ângelo High School, in Penaforte, Ceará. This dissertation aims to answer the following question: in what manners can school management encourage community participation in collegiate bodies so that the said body fulfills its democratic function? Besides identifying the reasons for the School Council's inoperability, this case study aims to contribute so the Council can become an organ that expands everyone's participation and commitment to education, involving and motivating the community to participate in democratic management in school. This dissertation’s methodology was developed through qualitative research, using interviews with semi-structured scripts carried out with members of the School Council and teachers, as well as the analysis of documents referring to the collegiate at federal, state and local levels. As it was possible to extract from the consultations made to the minutes of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 of the School Council, the presence of community members for the composition of the collegiate bodies and their participation in the meetings are low; few assemblies are held; and the content of the counselors' deliberations is limited only to technical and administrative matters of the school. Based on these results, it is argued that this study, through theoretical discussion and the proposition of an EAP (Educational Action Plan), or PAE in portuguese, can contribute to overcoming the difficulties of the school in relation to this theme, as well as aims to promote a participatory management that is open and democratic to the community.