Conferência Nacional de Educação (CONAE 2010): participação e representatividade em questão

Abstract

This research was carried out within the scope of the Post-graduation Programme in Education of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora and was aimed at studying the level of participation and representativeness in the National Conference on Education – CONAE 2010 - created during the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The investigation was oriented into analyzing how the participation and representativeness of a number of segments of society are expressed in the national stage of CONAE 2010. The objectives outlined for the study were: a) to analyse the processes developed for activating the necessary representativeness in the discussions within the scope of CONAE 2010; b) to capture the way social actors- either linked to associations, government agencies, educational institutions and private enterprise or not – perceived their participation in this event; and c) to verify which sectors displayed higher level of organization and thorough participation translating into a solid position. As for methodology, a qualitative analysis was carried out, and data collecting was based on interviews and documental analysis. The concepts of participation and representativeness are based on the reflection of theorists such as Bobbio, Nogueira, Teixeira, Avritzer, Young, Lüchmann, Touraine, Lavalle; Houtzager; Castello, among others, who, from their research perspective, contributed to the discussions carried out in this study. Data analysis allowed us to state that CONAE 2010 proved itself innovative in the sense that previously banned segments from such debates, for instance, the parents, were represented, apart from a number of social segments linked to either union or professional representativeness. In this sense, in terms of broadening the scope of the conference so as to include different voices, it may be said that the conference worked positively in this respect. Permeating institutional representativeness there appears representativeness based on individual interests, also tied to the role of social actors, as found in the normative guidelines of CONAE 2010. We found that, in spite of a broader representativeness and participation, the entities/segments that were more organically involved were the ones who had already been devoted to the struggle of a Law of Directives and Bases of National Education and a National Education Plan which meet the needs of Brazilian society, with the exception of The National Campaign for the Right to Education.