Tensões e desafios da participação estudantil na gestão democrática escolar: um estudo de caso em uma escola da rede estadual mineira

Abstract

This paper, developed for the Professional Postgraduate Program in Education Management and Assessment (PPGP) at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), discusses the participation of young students in democratic school management. The students who agreed to participate in the work study at Escola Estadual Aurora do conhecimento (EEAC), a fictitious name attributed to the institution where the research took place. The driving question that summarizes this work was: How can the EEAC management team act to promote student participation in the school environment? The specific objectives of the research were the following: describe what participation spaces are and how they work, analyze how students act in these spaces and propose actions to promote students’ actionº To achieve these objectives, a qualitative approach was adopted, through observations and notes in a diary. Conversations were organized with class leaders, full-time 9th year students, teachers and a specialist in basic educationº Finally, a literature review on democratic management and the effective inclusion of student participation in the school environment was carried out. The theoretical framework that supported this study was Dayrell (2003; 2010) Dayrell and Jesus (2016) Martins and Dayrell (2022), mainly in relation to the concepts of social subject, youth and school as a space for disputes, without ignoring the process of school exclusionº Works by Ferretti, Zibas and Tartuce (2004), Silva (2022), Souza (2008) and Costa (2011) contributed to the adoption of the expression “youth protagonism” and the consequent accountability of young people. Araújo (2009), Costa (2000) and Machado and Goulart (2019) guided the paths to knowledge about democratic management and spaces for student participationº From the analysis of the data collected, it was possible to identify that, although there are mechanisms and legislation that encourage youth participation, the effectiveness of this participation is still limited. The research showed that lack of encouragement for young people to participate restrict students’ autonomy. In response to these limitations, an Educational Action Plan (PAE) was proposed to strengthen the students’ participation