A gestão de Paulo Freire à frente da Secretaria da Educação municipal da cidade de São Paulo (1989 - 1991): desafios, prioridades e resistência

Abstract

Paulo Freire was not only an important theorist of education but also an educational administrator who sought to materialize his theoretical and ideological conception of education in practice. This study aimed to understand Paulo Freire’s administration as head of the Municipal Department of Education of São Paulo (1989–1991), by investigating the challenges he faced, the educational public policies implemented, and the legacy he left for Brazilian education. The research question guiding this investigation was: What were the challenges faced by Paulo Freire as the administrator of municipal education in the city of São Paulo? To address this question, a documentary study was conducted, grounded in Freire’s own works and in those of scholars who discuss public policy, democratic management, and the history of Brazilian education, such as Veiga (1995), Saul (2016), Paro (2017), hooks (2017), and Saviani (2021), in addition to the analysis of official documents from the Municipal Department of Education of São Paulo during the aforementioned period. The relevance of this investigation lies in understanding Freire’s history and experience, as they allow reflection on the democratization of public schools, the appreciation of educators, and the participation of the school community issues that remain urgent and deserving of study. The analytical method adopted was based on Orlandi’s (2001) Discourse Analysis, in order to explore how Freire’s discourses in letters, reports, and interviews expressed his conception of democratic management and education as a practice of freedom. The results reveal that Freire faced numerous challenges while leading the Department of Education under Mayor Luiza Erundina de Souza, particularly the structural precariousness of São Paulo’s municipal school system. It is concluded that Paulo Freire’s administration was characterized by a consistent effort to articulate theory and practice, grounded pedagogically in dialogue and educational democracy. Freire’s management was also guided by an ethical commitment to the critical formation of subjects, oriented toward human emancipation.