“If we let teachers work...”: meanings of school management inscribed in the articulations between public management and private programs

Abstract

This article, which aims to analyze the meanings of school management inscribed in the articulations between the public management of education and private sector policy programs, offers a theoretical contribution by discussing how managerial conceptions have sought to to adapt schools to neoliberal perspectives. However, by considering incompleteness and provisionality as constituent elements of social processes, the research acknowledges that even in the face of logic attempting to restrict the production of alternative life possibilities, such as neoliberal logic, there is always something that escapes the attempt at totality. As a theoretical-methodological route, this investigation employs Discourse Theory, avoiding the determinisms that often influence educational analyses. Consequently, three managers of municipal public schools in Caruaru, Pernambuco, were selected as research collaborators, chosen based on their schools’ profile. Data analysis reveals meanings strongly centered on the attempt to establish collaborative work in schools and on trust in teachers’ work. However, managers point out that the large number of projects proposed for schools seems to stem from a distrust of the schools’ ability to fulfill their formative role.