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Acta Scientiarum. Education

versión impresa ISSN 2178-5198versión On-line ISSN 2178-5201

Acta Educ. vol.43  Maringá  2021  Epub 29-Nov-2021

https://doi.org/10.4025/actascieduc.v43i1.55830 

TEACHERS' FORMATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Collaborative management in the context of prison education: limits and possibilities of training processes

Ana Lúcia Nobre da Silveira1 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8957-9706

Alesson de Oliveira Gadelha2 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9999-2924

Elcimar Simão Martins3  * 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5858-5705

Maria Cleide da Silva Ribeiro Leite4 
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4054-7257

1Centro de Educação de Jovens e Adultos Donaninha Arruda, Baturité, Ceará, Brasil

2Escola de Ensino Fundamental João Ferreira Gadelha, Aracoiaba, Ceará, Brasil

3Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira, Rua José Franco de Oliveira, s/n, 62790-970, Redenção, Ceará, Brasil

4Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, Canindé, Ceará, Brasil


ABSTRACT.

The text aimed to understand the limits and the training possibilities enhanced by democratic management in the context of prison education. With a qualitative approach, based on the multiple case study method, the investigation included as a data collection technique: document analysis and interviews with two school administrators from a Youth and Adult Education Center (CEJA) and three administrative managers from prison units that offer Youth and Adult Education (EJA) classes in the municipalities of Capistrano, Ocara and Pacoti, in the Baturité Massif-CE. The interviews revealed the search for a collaborative work between the CEJA school management and the administrative management of prison units in actions aimed at education in the prison context, but also some obstacles, such as the lack of structural and human resources. The data revealed the potential of democratic management, triggering the collaboration between those involved with the pedagogical work in order to enable a quality education for the Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL), understanding them as a human being capable of learning, reinventing themself and rewriting a new life story, with socio-professional reintegration. It is concluded that the concept of democratic management articulated to the principles of collaboration between school management and administrative management favors the development of a re-socializing formation. The survey also showed a lack of public policies that effectively ensure the provision of education in prison in order to guarantee prison well-being and social reintegration.

Keywords: citizen school management; prison education; youth and adult education

RESUMO.

O texto objetivou compreender os limites e as possibilidades formativas potencializadas pela gestão democrática no contexto da educação prisional. De abordagem qualitativa, assentada no método estudo de caso múltiplo, a investigação inseriu como técnica de recolha das informações: análise documental e entrevistas com duas gestoras escolares de um Centro de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (CEJA) e três gestores administrativos de unidades prisionais que ofertam turmas de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (EJA) nos municípios de Capistrano, Ocara e Pacoti, na região do Maciço de Baturité-CE. As entrevistas revelaram a busca de um trabalho compartilhado entre a gestão escolar do CEJA e a gestão administrativa das unidades prisionais nas ações voltadas à educação no contexto prisional, mas também alguns entraves, como a carência de recursos estruturais e humanos. O conjunto de dados revelou a potencialidade da gestão democrática, acionando a colaboração dos diversos envolvidos com o trabalho pedagógico no sentido de possibilitar uma educação de qualidade para a Pessoa Privada de Liberdade (PPL), compreendendo-a como ser humano capaz de aprender, de se reinventar e de reescrever uma nova história de vida, com reintegração socioprofissional. Conclui-se que a concepção da gestão democrática articulada aos princípios de colaboração entre a gestão escolar e a gestão administrativa favorece a realização de uma formação ressocializadora. A pesquisa também evidenciou carência de políticas públicas que efetivamente assegurem a oferta da educação em prisão a fim de garantir o bem estar prisional e a reintegração social.

Palavras-chave: gestão escolar cidadã; educação em prisões; educação de jovens e adultos

RESUMEN

RESUMEN. El texto tuvo como objetivo comprender los límites y las posibilidades de formación que potencia la gestión democrática en el contexto de la educación carcelaria. Con un enfoque cualitativo, basado en el método de estudio de casos múltiples, la investigación incluyó como técnica de recolección de información: análisis de documentos y entrevistas con dos administradores escolares de un Centro de Educación de Jóvenes y Adultos (CEJA) y tres directores administrativos de unidades penitenciarias que ofrecen clases de Educación para Jóvenes y Adultos (EJA) en los municipios de Capistrano, Ocara y Pacoti, en la región del Maciço de Baturité-CE. Las entrevistas revelaron la búsqueda de un trabajo compartido entre la dirección escolar del CEJA y la dirección administrativa de las unidades penitenciarias en acciones orientadas a la educación en el contexto penitenciario, pero también algunos obstáculos, como la falta de recursos estructurales y humanos. El conjunto de datos reveló el potencial de la gestión democrática, lo que propició la colaboración de los diversos involucrados con el trabajo pedagógico para posibilitar una educación de calidad para la Persona Privada de la Libertad (PPL), entendiéndola como un ser humano capaz de aprender, reinventarse y reescribir una nueva historia de vida, con reintegración socio-profesional. Se concluye que la concepción de gestión democrática articulada a los principios de colaboración entre gestión escolar y gestión administrativa favorece la realización de una formación resocializadora. La encuesta también mostró una falta de políticas públicas que aseguren efectivamente la provisión de educación en prisión para garantizar el bienestar y la reintegración social en la prisión.

Palabras clave: gestión escolar ciudadana; educación carcelaria; educación de jóvenes y adultos

Introduction

Over time, Brazilian educational policy has presented itself from two perspectives in the context of the school system. In this understanding, the educational system has eroded the democratic bases and walked at the mercy of the economic context of each time. The perpetuation of this historical duality has denied polytheistic formation of an integral nature because it favors the particular interests of the business class.

Characterized by the status of economic submission, educational guidelines cannot overcome the interests of the capitalist system. Therefore, educational policies are developed immersed in the predeterminations of the productive system. Thus, the business class has avoided an educational project capable of ensuring a political, critical and citizen formation that fosters popular emancipation.

Although a constant struggle has been undertaken toward emancipatory actions, such as school participation through collective management tools, for example: political pedagogical project, school regiment, school board, student association, institution of a school executing unit, principal elections, class council, among other actions that enable the strengthening of school management to improve the quality of educational processes, we also face a strong movement that guides community organization and participation in the opposite direction.

Therefore, in the teaching processes, the inequality of access to knowledge prevails due to the favoritism towards labor force training that aims at profitability in the market. Indeed, the business class supports the government in order to ensure policies that meet their purposes in the feedback of the productive system. Without meeting the real formative needs of economically disadvantaged civilian groups, many governments ignore those who most need to enter the workforce and continue to neglect the rights and duties of the working class.

When implementing policies that are integrated with capitalist demands, direct impact projects and actions are imposed on active citizens. Therefore, the fragmentation and decontextualization of education, which has elevated the rates of school evasion, rates of failure and indicators of age/grade distortion. Thus, training processes are changed, bringing ever deeper consequences that prevent social restructuring for the construction of a just society, free of corruption and privileges.

Thus, culturally crystallized practices permeate public policies, bringing direct implications to the pedagogical practice developed in the teaching units and, consequently, on the qualification of the working class, be they independent professionals, blue-collar workers, self-employed workers, among other individuals, as well as teaching professionals, and, among them, school managers, who manage the teaching units under the administrative frameworks, characteristic in efficiency, flexibility and results policy, with the argument of more agility, less formative content and low financial cost.

This reality is also present in the management of education for people deprived of liberty, as this is manifested through a partnership between school management and administrative management, which requires commitment from both parties to face challenges such as: inadequate physical spaces, security for the development of classes, logistics structure to monitor pedagogical practice, among other issues.

The eminently technical proposal has made training processes more flexible, maintaining the bureaucratic culture of power and domination by legal means, increasingly weakening the principles of democratic school management (Nadal, 2020). According to the researcher, in school culture, it is common for pedagogical management to receive influence and change the training processes, since the educational guidelines are subordinated to the normative prescription.

A democratic rule of law conforms to plurality, elevates training to the full level of political consciousness capable of articulating the necessary knowledge for the insertion in the workforce and the exercise of citizenship. The social role of a democratic school is developed in the presuppositions of participation, inclusion and the principles of collaboration.

Specifically, in a prison unit, citizenship training becomes essentially necessary and abruptly challenging. Social reintegration requires articulation between all processes of the prison unit, especially decision-making between administrative management and pedagogical management. We must not forget that the pedagogical dimension has a fundamental role to consolidate participatory management, under the focus of teaching and learning with liberating assumptions, which favor the social reintegration of students deprived of liberty.

In this sense, and linked to the pedagogical practice, this research aimed to understand the limits and possibilities of training boosted by democratic management in the context of prison education. To that end, we carried out qualitative research with the method of multiple case study due to cases occurred in the public systems of Capistrano, Ocara and Pacoti, located geographically in the territorial extension of the Baturité Massif, state of Ceará.

The qualitative research guided the present study because school management of prison education is a dense, complex and contemporary phenomenon developed in the subjectivity of real life. With the permission of the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Beings, we developed this study about school management in the context of prisons, evidencing that democratic principles favored educational development primarily in favor of the dignity of the human person. Citizen management remained free from any prejudice, through a different point of view, enabling the transformation of training processes and a new direction for the future of People Deprived of Liberty (PDL).

In addition to the Introduction and Final Considerations, this text was structured into three sections, which are: i) Democratic management and the collaborative role of the manager in pedagogical practice; (ii) methodological framework and the prison context; iii) Collaborative management and pedagogical practice: training limits and possibilities in prisons.

Democratic management and the collaborative role of the manager in pedagogical practice

In recent decades several changes have occurred in contemporary society, specifically in the Brazilian context. The globalization of the market and advancements in technology and media have profoundly altered social relations and cultural habits. The changes transformed the world of work and the systematics of business management, commonly adopted in educational management.

Nowadays, public school professionals resist the ultraconservative ideals that have prevented the construction of an emancipatory education project that ensures freedom of expression, democratic participation around the debate for conscious decision-making. Thus, the discussion about the constitution of citizenship in Brazilian territory has been carried out in a long path with demarcations of advancement, stagnation and even setbacks (Carvalho, 2002).

Combatting social contradictions requires democratic guarantees. Critical studies of reality are necessary, having as a main axis the ontological and philosophical foundation in administrative actions and pedagogical management in order to ensure mechanisms of insertion to participate in the real problems of daily life. There is an urgent need to study in depth so as not to empty democracy. The school that lightens its training impairs citizenship, because it prioritized the superficiality of subjects (Saviani, 2007).

In this sense, the role of the manager is paramount and should demonstrate conciliatory profile and spirit of collectivity for the effectiveness of a coherent, transparent and participatory management, capable of bringing significant changes to all who constitute the school community. According to Libâneo (2010), the concept of participation is fundamental to have democratic management, as it favors the involvement of the various individuals in decisions and in the development of school management.

The manager needs to be professional, with sensitive listening to existing demands, to be authentic and to adopt a collaborative professional posture with fellow teachers, students and other participants of the school community and surrounding society. Thus, they will be able to build an educational project based on the democratic pillars responsible for building citizenship through school success in teaching and learning.

With this collaborative spirit, the manager undertakes an attitude of collectivity consistent with a pedagogical intervention planned and articulated with the needs of the training reality. The manager with a democratic attitude understands that the pedagogical practice will always stem from the political pedagogical project (PPP). This project needs to integrate the active participation of the school community to ensure the processes of change (Teixeira, Amorim, Lopes & Souza, 2018).

Through the Federal Constitution of 1988, more specifically in Article 206, item VI, which establishes the “[...] democratic management in public education” (Constitution of Brazil, 1988) and later with the Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB) (Law N. 9394, 1996), the debate on democratic management allowed the school community and its educators to explore the principles of democratic values for school management, constructed from the political pedagogical project of each public institution.

As Veiga and Fonseca (2012, p. 11) highlight, the construction of the political pedagogical project helps coping with the “[...] challenge of emancipatory or uplifting innovation, both in the way of organizing the process of pedagogical practice and in the management that is carried out by interested parties, which implies the rethinking of the power structure”.

Therefore, the PPP is an ally of the democratic and participatory school management. However, its development was strongly affected by the approval of LDB N. 9394/96 by using the legal aspect to ensure the viability of neoliberal policies developed since the 1990s and especially in the 2000s. The imbalance of the negotiation that inserted the creation of the LDB reaffirmed the historical international subordination in the name of Brazilian cordiality found in the country since the colonial period (Holanda, 2006).

Acting as outdated law, according to Saviani (1999), the LDB was at the service of the neoliberal policies imposed by international entities. In the pedagogical dimension, educational policies with neoliberal guidelines were resolved by technicality. Marked by the lack of continuity of processes and guided by the pedagogy of results, they emptied the school subjects, thus stifling the organizational bases of democratic management (Saviani, 2009).

According to Zainko’s study (2000), education has always been a field of ideological manifestations, because the national scenario actively reflects interests arising from the political class and from liberal and progressive sectors. In this sense, education is permeated by the dynamics of social classes. Since the modernization process, the antagonistic movement of social conflicts has intensified. On the one hand, intellectuals, minorities and teachers try to overcome market impositions; on the other, business control over training processes (Fernandes, 2006).

Kuenzer (2017) asserts that, from an ontological point of view, public education has followed the directions of flexible production and, in the epistemological aspect of postmodernity, learning has been at the center of the student-teacher relationship. In this preamble to modernization, in which conflicts of interest arise, the principles of democratic management need to be strengthened in order to excel in the fight of conservative forces.

As consequence of the current LDB, through struggles and achievements, Law N. 13005/2014 approved the National Education Plan (PNE, in Portuguese), effective until 2024, aiming to ensure the articulation and consolidation of a national policy that provides for more effective and democratic participations, in an attempt to break with the authoritarian practices present in many schools until today. Goal 19 of the PNE provides that managers implement Democratic Management through education strategies and policies (Law N. 13005, 2014).

According to the legal framework that establishes the process of democratic management in public schools, it is possible to ensure that managers can perform a more participative pedagogical practice with all those involved in the educational process. In this sense, it is appropriate to emphasize that the laws alone are not enough. Democratic and collaborative realization requires overcoming the culture of gift, of command, of subservience. To this end, it requests social participation in addition to the citizenship granted (Sales, 1994).

The sense of democratization in education requires discussions about what autonomy is and the principles about democratic management in order to become an emancipatory education. According to Araújo (2009), there are four elements that characterize democratic management, which are: participation, autonomy, transparency and plurality. Each of these elements has an importance for collaboration and understanding in the democratic process and, together, they are understood for articulation in the decision-making process that takes place continuously in the school environment.

Since the four aforementioned elements are considered basic in order to build democratic management, managers must focus on their continuous practice to perform a more satisfactory work, moving from a static management model to a dynamic paradigm (Lück, 2009).

In view of this organization, there is the possibility of starting to create entities as constructive elements, such as the Political Pedagogical Project, collegiates or councils, so that they can be represented in the school community and as a way of assisting management, thus enabling a work that will influence both the pedagogical and the organizational attributions of the school institution (Veiga, 2010).

Also according to Veiga’s ideas (2010), all these principles, if and when effectively fulfilled by managers, enable management to work with more transparency and competence, but the challenge lies in the construction of a work methodology that can have a dimension of shared management, which enables collective exercise, with each contributing in proportion.

This pedagogical movement should be centered on the values and principles of democratic management, because it is with these theoretical bases that it is possible to build a public and educational task of the school, in addition to constituting the locus of forming the citizen as a social, important and historical being in these relationships. The work of democratic school management does not have a great formula to be understood; it is necessary to create conditions for the political and cultural to be part of this planning. The total scope of the planning is the active participation of all individuals involved in the process, such as: managers, teachers and the school community (Dourado, 2007).

Also according to Dourado’s ideas (2007), an effectively democratic and participatory management should be designed and redesigned whenever necessary. Understood as a public good, education needs a collective involvement in this construction, including the subjects who are in the school routine, experiencing the management process.

Management should mobilize the permanent participation of the school community, developing pedagogical practices according to the curriculum proposal. Specifically, in this study, we addressed the work of school and administrative management in prison education.

The methodological framework and the prison context

Scientific research has contributed to the advancement of science, driving innovation in the problem-solving capacity of everyday demands. Specifically in education research, we believe that scientific discoveries have strengthened collaborative work in the educational field and deepened humanist thinking, fostering the theoretical-practical articulation of teaching and learning.

In order to understand the impact of democratic management on the training processes developed in prisons in the Baturité Massif region, we selected a theoretical-methodological framework that supported ethical and reliable responses to the investigated object. Considering school management and prison education as a broad and complex phenomenon, we have chosen qualitative research because of its potential for subjective scope. According to Minayo (1994, p. 21-22), qualitative research is concerned

[...] with a level of reality that cannot be quantified. That is, it works with the universe of meanings, motives, aspirations, beliefs, values and attitudes, which corresponds to a deeper space of relationships, processes and phenomena [...].

The qualitative dimension seeks the nuances of subjectivity, whether in the situations of values, attitudes, beliefs, aspirations, motives, among other issues of a deeper nature concerning social and cultural relations, belonging to phenomena with more complex processes. Thus, we prioritized the dimension of qualitative research aligned with the multiple case study method, due to there being more than one case in the prison context. As a data collection technique, we used interviews and document analysis.

Based on Gil (2007), the documental strategy differs from bibliographic research because it works with several sources that have not yet received analytical treatment, such as: projects, dossiers, reports, official documents, recordings, among other records. Bibliographic research, in turn, uses the contributions of various authors on a specific subject. The document analysis of the Political Pedagogical Project of the Center for Youth and Adult Education (CEJA, in Portuguese) that coordinates the pedagogical practice carried out in prisons, along with the interviews, allowed us to unveil inclusive and collaborative elements articulated with the foundations of democratic management.

Gil (2007, p. 117), asserts that “[...] the interview is one of the most widely used data collection techniques in the social sciences”. The interview enables direct interaction between the investigator and the interviewees. According to Minayo (1994, p. 57), “[...] the interview is the most usual procedure of fieldwork”.

Bogdan and Biklen (1994) compare the interview with a conversation between friends, and it is up to the interviewer to arrange the setting to start the conversation with the subject in order to establish a reliable relationship for a climate conducive to data collection. In the understanding of Marconi and Lakatos (2003, p. 195), the interview is like a “[...] meeting of two people, so that one of them can obtain information about a particular subject, through a conversation of a professional nature”.

Regarding the chosen method, according to Yin (2001, p. 18), “[...] the case study is an appropriate strategy when examining contemporary events [...]”, considering the techniques of the interview and document analysis.

The project for the research was submitted to the Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Beings and, with the favorable verdict, we conducted interviews with two school managers of the Youth and Adult Education Center (CEJA) and three administrative managers of prisons that offer classes of Youth and Adult Education (EJA) in the municipalities of Capistrano, Ocara and Pacoti, located geographically in the Baturité Massif, in Ceará. After recording the interviews, the data were transcribed and analyzed in the light of the theoretical framework.

The prison context is manifested through the collaboration between the Secretariat of Education of the state of Ceará (SEDUC) and the Department of Justice of Ceará (SEJUS), promoting an agreement for integrative cooperation of CEJA school management with the administrative management of prisons through the enrollment of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL).

The CEJA coordinates the educational offer, elaborates the pedagogical proposal and guides the training of teachers who work in prisons through their pedagogical management. Located in the city of Baturité/CE, the aforementioned CEJA brings in its essence the valorization of the human being, based on the dictates of democratic management, especially in the process of developing pedagogical actions with emphasis on meeting the diversities and peculiarities of the EJA public, especially those deprived of liberty (Centro de Educação de Jovens e Adultos [CEJA], 2017).

In this sense, the CEJA school management seeks to develop actions in a collaborative way with the administrative managers of prisons, enabling them to be co-responsible in decision-making. This initiative encouraged the revision of the Political Pedagogical Project and the school regiment, including the specificities of prison education, based on ethical, collective and participatory commitment.

Collaborative management and pedagogical practice: training limits and possibilities in prisons

Youth and Adult Education (EJA) is the modality that includes young people fifteen years of age or older in elementary school and adults eighteen years of age or older in high school. Like every training process, prison education also has as its principle the success of the students’ learning, seeking to provide adequate conditions, such as: guarantee of access to didactic material, an environment conducive to classes with an approach to relevant topics for the development of activities that promote equity and contribute to the protagonism of the students.

The government has the task of promoting actions that will bring about equality for all individuals, including persons deprived of liberty. In the prison context, education provides access and seeks to consolidate the right to education for those deprived of liberty, since they are also victims of social inequality. To this end, it is essential to ensure the accomplishment of this right, through “[...] public policies aimed at making imprisonment a time of meaningful learning and contributing to the (re)construction of a life project for when the imprisoned regain their freedom” (Onofre & Julião, 2013, p. 52).

We can understand that the relevance of the universe of prison education goes beyond learning to read and write or continuing studies, also contemplating overcoming idleness, with the possibility of addressing themes that lead PDL to reflect on human rights and their duties as citizens responsible for their actions and for the environment in which they live, so that the offer of prison education is also an opportunity for life improvement within and outside prison.

Considering that prison education is still slowly improving, and its approach occurs timidly in discussions about diversity when, in most cases, they encompass culture, gender and ethnic relations, we are urged to reflect on this situation. To this end, we asked the coordinator responsible for the pedagogical monitoring of prison education in the Baturité Massif to report on the experience of prison education management. According to her,

Prison education brings with it many challenges, fears, but especially the need for a human outlook, for the sensitivity of all those responsible in this process, in the search to guarantee this right to those deprived of liberty. It is essential to respect the decision-making of managers who are at the head of the administration of prison institutions and those who closely monitor this experience, as a way to ensure the safety of the teacher and student during classes, as well as the coordinator during pedagogical visits (Pedagogical Coordinator of the CEJA).

We note that there is a school management practice sensitive to the reality of the prison context where the offer of EJA is inserted, which relies on the partnership and understanding of all those involved and the role of pedagogical coordination is presented as a beacon in teaching practice in the perspective of constructing knowledge and strengthening relationships. According to Teixeira et al. (2018), the pedagogical coordinator is the main articulator of training processes and, at the same time, is also the builder of their own professional identity when thinking and experiencing the formative bases of teachers. Also according to the collaborator:

Since then, one of my responsibilities is the pedagogical monitoring of the process of teaching and learning in prison education. This experience has made it possible for me to meet people and other realities; focus on specific readings, participate in events and, consequently, strengthen professional ties with prisons in the region, in addition to knowing the prison context better and, especially, the educational protagonists, teachers and students (Pedagogical Coordinator of the CEJA).

In this sense, pedagogical monitoring contributes to and promotes moments of reflection, because the act of planning fosters strategies and strengthens teaching practices in the prison context. Thus, planning builds paths in the context of teaching, predicting the subjects, the strategies to be developed and the evaluation, considering the context and specificities of the prison education public. In the pedagogical coordinator’s opinion,

The weekly planning enables the sharing of experiences among teachers, elaboration of projects, construction of pedagogical materials, as well as promoting training through the approach of themes that will consolidate teaching in the prison context, and orientations on the attitude and conduct of teachers in the prison environment, conducting pedagogical practice in an instructive and participatory way in the teaching learning process in prisons (Pedagogical Coordinator of the CEJA).

We know that teaching practice presupposes continuous training, which requires constant study and planning, because “[...] We become educators, we train ourselves, as educators, permanently, in practice and in reflection on practice” (Freire, 1991, p. 58). In this collective construction, as a possibility of guaranteeing autonomy to pedagogical practice, we notice the need and initiative to offer training to those responsible for teaching and learning processes in prisons, such as support and valorization of the work they develop. When asked about the offer of training focused on teaching in prison, the pedagogical coordinator says that:

There is a need to ensure specific and continuous training for teachers working in the prison context, constituting for me a challenge, in the sense of seeking to establish a link between pedagogical theories, professional practice and educational trainings relevant to the subject. This, in a way, as the coordinator responsible for educational pedagogical monitoring in prisons, drives me toward the search for new knowledge, taking responsibility for teacher training (Pedagogical Coordinator of the CEJA).

We verify, thus, on the role of pedagogical management, the search to meet an educational demand, through actions that promote the continued teacher training, aiming at the socialization of knowledge in favor of new perceptions and school practices.

According to the ideas of Fusari and Franco (2005, p. 21), continuous training in service “[...] occurs in the school itself, having as a mediator element the dynamics of the school curriculum itself, that is, the pedagogical project in action”. Therefore, the pedagogical coordination of the CEJA seeks to strengthen the political pedagogical project through training that favors the dialogue with the educational work developed within the public prisons of the Baturité Massif.

In this sense, the CEJA seeks, through collaborative work, based on the articulation between theory and practice, to contribute to the process of continuous teacher training, ensuring the teachers placed in prison education space and time to reflect on their practices, as well as moments of collective study and planning.

Another important point in this journey is the dialogue between planning pedagogical practices and monitoring the development of classes, seeking to experience in practice the potentials and weaknesses of prison education. In relation to this practice,

The pedagogical monitoring takes place through the preparation and realization of pedagogical meetings as well as through visits in prisons, a complicated action to perform due to the prisons being located in different municipalities, being my full responsibility as coordinator the commute and the expenses with gasoline (Pedagogical Coordinator of the CEJA).

The pedagogical coordinator reports the difficulties to perform pedagogical monitoring, evidencing the need to acknowledge the importance of the work of pedagogical management, especially in the specificity of the context of prisons, which requires appropriate material, logistical, security and infrastructure conditions to be implemented.

We highlight that there is the search for collaborative work between the CEJA school management and the administrative management of prison units for the development of actions aimed at the Education of Youth and Adults in the prison context. In addition to the challenges faced by school management, the managers responsible for prisons deal with different demands and tensions posed by the complexity of the vulnerable environments of penal establishments.

Thus, we understand that, with the appropriate conditions, management positions and, directly, the performance of prison managers can make a difference regarding administration, but especially related to the human and social fields. The training and valorization of prison professionals become paramount in the process of social reintegration, since there is the possibility of mobilizing a set of activities that configure a more humane approach to prison, capable of collaborating with the process of reintegration of individuals into society.

Therefore, we presume the need for initiatives that promote the improvement of the training of prison professionals, such as prison managers, prison officers and teachers, so that they are aware of the proper handling of the characteristic factors of the public and the space in which they develop their work activities (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2009).

The prison manager undertakes the function of performing several necessary services in the prison, through the integration and contribution of the professionals who make up the specialist team placed in the prison unit. Art. 75 of The Criminal Execution Act N. 7210/1984 defines the requirements for the position of director of a penal establishment: “I - higher education degree in Law, or Psychology, or Social Sciences, or Pedagogy, or Social Services; II - administrative experience in the field; III - moral suitability and recognized aptitude for the performance of the function” (Law N. 7210, 1984).

The prison context requires several atributions. In this sense, we dialogued with the managers of the prisons of Capistrano, Ocara and Pacoti to understand their views about these institutions, the subjects detained therein, as well as the limits and possibilities of the training processes developed in this space.

Regarding prison education, the point of view of prison managers reveals a perspective of inclusion and social mobility resulting from training processes. According to their statements:

Prison education shows the way, opens the door to success and social ascension (Prison Director 1).

Prison education not only in prison, but in general, is extremely necessary for the development of the human being, so it is appropriate throughout the range of society. And it could not be different on the prison side (Prison Director 2).

I see that it is a benefit due to being aware of your rights and duties, learning in general and also becoming important as a way out of idleness within the prison unit (Prison Director 3).

Education, in addition to being a right, presents itself to many as the path for life transformation or hope for new possibilities. In prison it would be no different, and the education offered in Brazilian prisons should not be seen as a favor or even a perk granted by the prison system. According to Mendes (2015, p. 6), “Education and dignified work are the pillars of effective reeducation and resocialization”, capable of providing new possibilities and improvements in living in community.

The educational process, especially in the prison context, contributes to citizen education, enabling the development of new possibilities for students. Therefore, “Educational practice, as a social practice historically and politically located, must constitute a possibility of unveiling reality and overcoming the contradictions in it” (Costa, 2014, p. 147).

Thus, the educational process is one of the tools that can be used as a strategy to mobilize part of the prison population in the attempt of social reintegration. When asked about the defining criteria of the possibility of students’ participation in prison education, the directors reported that

Priority for already sentenced prisoners, because they have a defined length of stay (Prison Director 1).

The pedagogical assignee, in this case, the teacher, is the one who will observe and diagnose at what education level each one is. But they will only make this division after the inmate has passed the criteria of safety and discipline, his behavior is evaluated before he can be passed on to the head of education so that he is worked in the educational process (Prison Director 2).

Well, here, in the issue of behavior, in general they have a respectful behavior, in very rare exceptions one has a problem, but in general they have respect both for teachers and for the staff and then if they want to study they do so, if they keep that interest they will study (Prison Director 3).

Therefore, there is a hierarchy of decisions for permission and definition of the PDL who will participate in educational and labor activities. It is understood that such procedures are common to all prison units, obeying the individual peculiarities, guidelines that exist to ensure the well-being of students, teachers and other professionals of the prison unit, as well as the balanced and harmonious guarantee of the prison routine.

Seeking a better understanding of the challenges and internal blocks experienced in the prison context for the development of training activities in the classroom, the directors were asked to point out the difficulties encountered. In their statements, the directors highlighted elements related to infrastructure and security:

Precarious structure. In the Prison Unit, besides the physical structure, what may make it impossible to attend classes are accidents (acts that incite the obstruction of order) that can happen at any time, but in this P.U. we have no records of such acts (Prison Director 1).

In fact, internally in the security issue, in situations where they present a condition of unfavorable behavior, it makes it impossible for there to be a class. Other issues are linked to their will, there may be situations arising from them, personal situations in which they express their unwillingness to attend classes at that time (Prison Director 2).

What makes classes difficult is the issue of infrastructure. Sometimes one sees in the news infrastructure problems of the conventional schools themselves, let alone in the prison environment, many of them were not created to even obey what the Law of Execution determines, that is, to provide for the prisoner, the inmate, let alone have classes, this is a great hindrance we have, because many do not have an adequate place. It’s an improvised thing. Often his [inmate] discouragement is because he was not used to being educated out there. So he does not have education as a priority, because he often does not have education before entering here (Prison Director 3).

The directors express the lack of infrastructure to accommodate the students in a classroom considered as an appropriate environment for the classes to take place. Of the units surveyed, we have the following situations: in the Prison Unit (PU) 1, the classroom is in a hall that gives access to the cell pavilion. In PU 2, built for this purpose, there is a room with 24m2. And finally, in PU 3, classes take place in a covered area in the Unit’s courtyard.

This reality is not consistent with the right that had already been granted through the Strategic Plan for Education in the Prison System, defined in Decree N. 7626/2011, Art. 4th Single Paragraph, which states: “To achieve the objectives provided for in this article, the necessary measures will be adopted to ensure the appropriate physical spaces for educational, cultural and professional training activities, and its integration into the other activities of penal establishments” (Decree N. 7626, 2011).

Such a right, which in many cases already wasn’t conceivable in prison environments in an adequate manner, became legally not mandatory, because, according to the National Council for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy (CNPCP), of the Ministry of Justice, changes were designated in the application of Resolution N. 9/2011, which in turn establishes the rules and guidelines for the drafting of projects, construction, renovations and expansions of prison units in Brazil (Resolution N. 9, 2011). These changes establish the non-mandatory nature of the construction of classrooms in prison environments, narrowing it only to the construction of cells and health areas. This measure means a setback in the guarantee of the right to education as well as in the search for resocialization of the inmates and also in the dynamics of prison management itself, becoming another challenge in the educational scenario of Brazilian prisons.

Prison education is the result of the work and involvement of many people. It is not a benefit, it constitutes a right signed in Law N. 7210/1984, stating that “[...] the purpose of penal execution is to implement the provisions of criminal sentence or decision and to provide conditions for the harmonious social integration of the sentenced and the interned” (Law N. 7210, 1984).

In the face of the above, it is necessary that each person perceives themself and undertakes their role in this scenario. There are obstacles that hinder the implementation of education in prisons, such as: lack of structural resources, human resources, prison workers properly prepared to perform their duties, scarcity of specific training for teachers working in this context. These obstacles hinder an articulated work between the school management of the CEJA and the administrative management of prisons. In this respect, the CEJA School Principal reveals that:

The work shared between the school and the prison management always takes place with a lot of demands and little partnership between SEDUC and SEJUS. The latter brings a lot of demands and on the other hand the school walked practically alone, where the pedagogical monitoring had to find a way, struggle to make it work, to be able to give the necessary support to the teachers, since a really effective partnership is fundamental. Concerning the managers of the units, many did not have a good opinion of these classes, they even thought it was silly, that we were granting a lot of rights to those who did not deserve it, and in a way in some situations, in my view, I thought that teachers at times felt embarrassed. So, like, the structure was precarious, they had to reinvent themselves inside the units, looking for a corner where they could teach, no total security, it was precarious (CEJA School Principal).

The school principal highlights the challenges faced for the effective citizen education of people deprived of liberty. It is not enough for the responsible entities to prescribe how prison education should happen. It is necessary to give the institutions autonomy, ensuring the minimum conditions for pedagogical work to be carried out and school management, allied with the administrative management of prison units, can develop a work in partnership, with defined objectives, focusing on the real needs of the inmates.

Dialogue is fundamental in the work of management, but it is also necessary to understand the importance of negotiation, since management is a space of various interests, revealing contradictions and conflicts in the search for the implementation of changes. Therefore, it is necessary to “[…] manage scarcity, manage conflicts, make decisions in complex situations. And none of this appears in the manuals” (Vieira, 2007, p. 60).

The management of education in the prison context faces several challenges in the search to develop the training process, but it provides students deprived of liberty a bridge of access to knowledge, the overcoming of idleness, the fulfillment of rights and duties, revealing a possible change of life and a new position in society.

Final considerations

The investigation sought to understand the training limits and possibilities enhanced by democratic management in the context of prison education. To this end, in addition to document analysis, we carried out interviews with two school managers of the Youth and Adult Education Center (CEJA) and three administrative managers of prisons that offer Youth and Adult Education classes (EJA) in the municipalities of Capistrano, Ocara and Pacoti, located in the Baturité Massif, state of Ceará.

Education is historically situated and marked by the tensions and contradictions of each time. When it comes to the prison context, education is seen as a booster for resocialization, providing new possibilities for life in society.

Democratic and participatory management, ensured by the Federal Constitution and based on collaboration and dialogue with the various individuals involved in the process, seeks to face the everyday challenges of school, especially in contexts of greater vulnerability, such as prison education.

The study reveals the search for collaborative work between the CEJA school management and the administrative management of prisons in actions aimed at education in the prison context, but also some obstacles, such as the lack of structural and human resources.

The administrative managers of prisons understand the training processes as a possibility of inclusion, resocialization and social mobility for those deprived of liberty. However, they point out as main challenges for the development of classroom activities the physical infrastructure and aspects related to the maintenance of safety. The current legislation points to a setback in the guarantee of the right to education when it removes the obligation to build classrooms in prison spaces, which also hinders the resocialization of those deprived of liberty.

The pedagogical coordinator of the CEJA corroborates the formative potential of collective planning in strengthening teaching practices in the prison context, but also emphasizes the lack of logistical support to reach the municipalities where the prison units are located so that she can perform pedagogical monitoring. She also reveals the challenge to ensure continuous training for prison EJA teachers, but the commitment of school management to ensure moments of study and reflection on practices.

The school principal reveals the bureaucratic difficulties for maintaining education in the context of prisons, punctuating the various demands and lack of counterpart for the development of the work, and also reveals the precariousness of the infrastructure and the concern for the safety of those involved in the educational process.

Regarding dialogue as a primary mark for the exercise of collaborative management between school and prisons, as well as the commitment made by each of the individuals who make up education in the prison context, public policies must be implemented to ensure the permanence of the provision of prison education, as well as the consolidation of the right to education and the promotion of the resocialization of persons deprived of liberty.

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11Note: The authors were responsible for the data conception, analysis and interpretation; writing and critical revision of the manuscript and the approval of the final version to be published

Received: September 15, 2020; Accepted: January 25, 2021

Ana Lúcia Nobre da Silveira: Master in Sociobiodiversity and Sustainable Technologies (UNILAB). Specialist in Water, Environmental and Energy Resources Management (UNILAB), in Biology and Chemistry Teaching (URCA) and in Management and Evaluation of Public Education (UFJF), Undergraduate Degree in Sciences with Full Qualifications in Biology and Chemistry (FECLESC/UECE). Teacher in the Municipal System of Aracoiaba and the State School System of Ceará. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8957-9706 E-mail: alns_prof@yahoo.com.br

Alesson de Oliveira Gadelha: Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from the University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB). Specialist in School Management at the State University of Ceará. Currently studying History Education at UNILAB. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9999-2924/print E-mail: alesson_gadelha@hotmail.com

Elcimar Simão Martins: PhD in Education (FEUSP). Doctor’s and Master’s Degree in Education (UFC). Specialist in Teaching Brazilian Literature (UECE) and School Management (UFC). Undergraduate Degree in Letters (UFC). Pedagogue (UMESP). Assistant Professor at the University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB). Institutional Coordinator of PIBID. Leader of the Study and Research Group on Education, Diversity and Teaching (EDDocência). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5858-5705 E-mail: elcimar@unilab.edu.br

Maria Cleide da Silva Ribeiro Leite: Doctor’s and Master’s Degree in Education (UECE). Specialist in School Management (UDESC). Undergraduate Degree in Pedagogy (UECE) and Letters (UMESP). Professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Ceará (IFCE), Campus Canindé. Member of the Study Group on Public Policy and Social Exclusion GEPPES; Observatory of Youth, Professional Education and Work (JEPTRA) and the Laboratory of Studies, Research and Extension in High School - LEPEEM. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4054-7257 E-mail: cleide.silva@ifce.edu.br

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