Secondary Education under Tension between Democratization and Modernization: Reflections from the Brazilian Experience

Abstract

This paper analyzes the extension of the right to secondary education in Brazil. Currently, the debate on secondary education has been intensified in civil society highlighting the problem of the reason of its precarious offer, not to mention a significant proportion of young people and adults who have not finished this level of schooling. Opinions vary on how the offer to secondary education should be held: while a minority believes that schooling should be humanistic and scientific; others support integrated education with a technical certification. Others advocate the separation of secondary professional education. This myriad of projects and programs has invaded the educational systems and schools, a portrait of public action in the education area, divided between republicans and private interests, in the context of disputes between the process of democratization and modernization, guided by the excellence of the performance of the institutions and students. This paper has an essay character produced within the research 'Innovative High School Program: working conditions and teacher education' with CNPq funding and during the post-doctoral studies conducted at the École Normale Supèrieure de Lyon/France, with CAPES financial support.