Práxis Educativa
Print version ISSN 1809-4031On-line version ISSN 1809-4309
Abstract
SOUSA, Luciana Pereira de and TOMAZ, Vanessa Sena. Tensions revealed in teachers’ work in Basic Education guided by neoliberal education policies. Práxis Educativa [online]. 2020, vol.15, e2015340. Epub Sep 02, 2020. ISSN 1809-4309. https://doi.org/10.5212/praxeduc.v.15.15340.078.
This article analyses the tensions in the teachers’ work activity on the regulation of policies for Basic Education in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, guided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The research was developed through participant observation of classes and pedagogical planning meetings and interviews with four teachers in the 4th and 5th grade classes of the Elementary School. The analysis is based on the historical-cultural perspective and highlighted the tensions that occur in the activity when teachers face external demands from the Education Department, whose education policies are aligned with the neoliberal model of Education. The results reveal that such policies change teachers’ daily lives and cause work overload as they need to restructure their pedagogical work. They also point out how teachers face the impositions of reproducing the neoliberal model through teaching alternatives that are not hierarchized by the system.
Keywords : Teachers’ work activity; Basic Education; Education policies.