Under the tree of Platformisation: concentration of power, datafication and autonomy in Brazilian Basic Education

Abstract

This article analyses the pervasive penetration of digital platforms in Basic Education and Philosophy Teaching, using the process defined as platformisation as a reference. Using the metaphor of the Platformisation Tree as inspiration, the aim is to discuss aspects of the complex power-knowledge dynamics that operate beyond user-friendly interfaces, examining how the three layers of the ecosystem – roots (infrastructure and datafication), trunk (corporate concentration of power) and branches/leaves (educational platforms, pedagogical practices and teaching autonomy) – articulate in the educational context. It focuses on the conceptual triad: concentration of power, datafication and the erosion of teaching autonomy in the teaching-learning process. It argues that platformisation in education is not merely a technological improvement, but a process that is restructuring the sector by promoting the datafication of the teaching-learning process and educational management, consolidating infrastructural and informational power concentrated in the hands of a few corporations (Big Tech) and straining the autonomy of teachers, managers and students. These aspects fuel Dataism and Datafication. This phenomenon threatens autonomy, both at the individual level (the surveillance of data of those involved in the teaching-learning process) and at the professional level (automated curation that restricts the autonomy, freedom, and creativity of teachers and managers of the process). It can be concluded that the pedagogical space, under the canopy of this tree, is being increasingly reconfigured by private interests, requiring a careful and proactive approach to defend the public values of education as a public right and the autonomy of individuals and groups in the platform society.