Gestão democrática: o processo de representação nos conselhos escolares na rede pública municipal de São Luís, MA

Abstract

This thesis on “Democratic Management: the process of representation on school councils in municipal public of São Luis, State of Maranhão” has as general objective to analyze the practices instituted in the representation process in School Councils. In a more specific way: a) to comprehend the bases which structure the educational democratic management proposals in the Brazilian context, by emphasizing community representation; b) to get to know the powers of the School Councils and their participation in school democratization; c) to analyze the representation process in the School Councils, in municipal public schools in São Luís, Maranhão, by having the relationship among the representatives and those represented. The aim in focus is inserted within a broader context, it involves historical, social, politic and economic aspects which determine the action towards the educational field. As for the technical procedures, we utilized a bibliographical, documental, field research by means of semi-structured interviews with the directors of the School Councils and the representatives of parentes, students, teachers, other workers and local community, in two schools of the municipal teaching network. The results of research evidence that: the tools adopted to choose the representatives depend on the school needs; the representatives and the school community do not know the council powers; the representatives do not evaluate the activities developed in the school management context. One of the main challenges to be overtaken is the lack of articulation of the representatives with their represented people. We conclude that in order to put forth the representative process in School Councils it is essential that it be considered a space dedicated to democratic thinking from group work based on the quality of the relationship among the representatives and the represented people.