Article
Reduction of the workload of Arts, Philosophy and
Sociology: Paraná, 2021
Redução da
carga horária de Artes, Filosofia e Sociologia: Paraná, 2021
Reducción de la carga horaria de Artes, Filosofía y
Sociología: Paraná, 2021
Fábio Antonio Gabriel[i]
Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná
Jacarezinho, PR, Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4990-4102
Ana Lúcia Pereira[ii]
Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa
Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0970-260X
Ana Cássia Gabriel[iii]
Paraná State
Secretary of Education
Joaquim Távora, PR, Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0118-7423
Contribution in the
elaboration of the text: author 1 - author of the introduction and review of
literature and final revision; author 2 - preparation of the questionnaire,
research project review, data analysis, text consolidation; author 3 -
application of questionnaires, characterization of research subjects, prior
data analysis, contribution to the presentation of results.
Received: 04/23/2022
Accepted: 07/21/2022
Published: 08/08/2022
Linhas Críticas | Journal edited by the
Faculty of Education of the University of Brasília, Brazil
ISSN: 1516-4896 | e-ISSN: 1981-0431
Volume 28, 2022 (jan-dec).
http://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/linhascriticas
Full reference (APA):
Gabriel, F. A., Pereira,
A. L., & Gabriel, A. C. (2022). Reduction of the workload of Arts,
Philosophy and Sociology: Paraná, 2021. Linhas Críticas, 28,
e43033. https://doi.org/10.26512/lc28202243033
Link alternativo:
https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/linhascriticas/article/view/43033
Creative Commons license
CC BY 4.0.
Abstract: This paper results from empirical research with 31
teachers of Arts, Philosophy and Sociology from the State of Paraná, Brazil.
The objective was to analyze the impacts of reducing the workload of these
disciplines, in relation to student learning, to just one lesson. The research
is qualitative, and the data were analyzed through the Discursive Textual
Analysis. A possible increase in differences in the educational process in
relation to the less favored social classes is highlighted; in addition, there
is a substantial lag in student learning in view of the situation of reducing
the workload of these disciplines, which contribute to the intellectual and
citizenship education of future generations.
Keywords: New High
School. Arts, Philosophy and Sociology. Reduction of workload.
Resumo: Este artigo resulta de pesquisa empírica com 31
professores de Artes, Filosofia e Sociologia do Estado do Paraná. Objetivou-se
analisar os impactos da redução da carga horária dessas disciplinas, sobre a
aprendizagem dos alunos, a apenas uma aula. A pesquisa é de natureza
qualitativa e os dados foram analisados por meio da Análise Textual Discursiva.
Evidenciou-se um possível aumento de diferenças no processo educacional em
relação às classes sociais menos favorecidas; além disso, há grande defasagem
na aprendizagem dos alunos diante da situação da redução da carga horária
dessas disciplinas, as quais contribuem para a formação intelectual e cidadã
das futuras gerações.
Palavras-chave: Novo Ensino Médio. Artes, Filosofia e Sociologia. Redução de
carga horária.
Resumen: Este artículo resulta de una investigación empírica
con 31 profesores de Artes, Filosofía y Sociología del Estado de Paraná. El
objetivo fue analizar los impactos de la reducción de la carga horaria de estas
asignaturas, sobre el aprendizaje de los alumnos en una sola clase. La
investigación es de naturaleza cualitativa y los datos fueron analizados por
medio del Análisis Textual Discursivo. Se evidenció un posible aumento de
diferencias en el proceso educativo en relación con las clases sociales menos
favorecidas; además, hay un gran rezago en el aprendizaje de los alumnos ante
la reducción de la carga horaria de estas asignaturas, que contribuyen a la
formación intelectual y cívica de las generaciones futuras.
Palabras
clave: Nueva Enseñanza Secundaria. Artes, Filosofía y Sociología. Reducción
de carga horaria.
Introduction
This paper deals with the curriculum change that
the Ministry of Education approved for High School and the impacts that such
measures cause to students’ learning regarding the disciplines of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
in the State of Paraná, Brazil, resulting from the reduction, as early as 2021,
of the workload of these disciplines. This is an anticipation carried out in
the state of Paraná in relation to the new High School program. A conjuncture
analysis makes it possible to realize that, although it does not specifically
deal with High School reform, in this paper, it is essential to understand the
issue based on the logic in force in a neoliberal society that privileges the
accumulation of capital of large capitalist corporations. The advent of the
High School reform will generate a profound impact on the education of the
poorer population, which will have reduced their ability to contact content
capable of providing them with a critical education of social reality.
In this context, there is the risk of generating
an unequal school: one for the most socially favored, which will have a broader
education and will follow on to university studies; and another, at the second
level, for the less privileged layer, already sent to High School for technical
training, who will be placed directly into the labor market. Preliminarily, we
cannot condemn the preparation for the labor market, but in a democratic
society, access to public Higher Education should also be democratized. In the
case of Brazil, when we analyze the text of the Common Core State Standards – called in Brazil Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC), we can realize that,
in many ways, we see it as step backwards to Law no. 5,692, of August 11, 1971,
which provided for the issue of the primacy of the training of professionals
fit for the labor market (Brazil, 1971). In practice, it is thought of as a Basic Education for the poor, focused
on the job market, and one for those of better conditions, focused on broad
training with a view to entering university. In this text, through a literature
review, we will initially reflect on the High School reform. Subsequently, we
will enter the context of field research, which counted on 31 teachers of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
who agreed to participate in the research.
The data were organized and analyzed based on
the Textual and Discourse Analysis, through which four categories emerged that
concern the reduction of the workload of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology: need to
select content/learning lag; time/class shortage for the development of the
critical capacity of students; loss of the essence of the discipline. In short,
reduced class time impacts student learning.
Literature review
In this paper, we emphasize the impact on students’
learning due to the reduction of the workload of the Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
disciplines, and also on the teaching professional development of the teachers
of these disciplines. Day
(2001) points out that, when working conditions are not satisfactory, stress
compromises the health and professional development of teachers. From this
perspective, the author clarifies that “[…] teachers who reveal ‘malaise’
transmit significantly less information and fewer positive reinforcements to
students” (DAY, 2001, p. 39). How can a professional maintain motivation at work by taking 30 classes?
(In the case of the state of Paraná, teachers of these subjects had to assume
this workload). Day (2001, p. 43) affirms that “[…] what students feel about
the environment in which they study and their teaching relationship affects
their interest, motivation and results”.
What was not evidenced during the BNCC (Brazil, 2018) discussion process
is why some disciplines were considered central and others peripheral (although
textually, the BNCC does not explain
this hierarchy between the disciplines, but only Portuguese language, Modern
Foreign language and Mathematics are considered mandatory), to the point that
the state of Paraná, from 2021 on, has reduced the Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
disciplines to a weekly class.
Still on the relationship between work
conceptions, professional development and student learning, Day (2001, p. 43)
points out that “[…] teachers’ professional development has to be built
based on the teacher’s ‘passionate vocation’, encouraging and maintaining their
motivation and enthusiasm, not only to be a professional, but to act as a
professional throughout the career”. From this perspective, it is essential that the state offers teachers
structural working conditions, preserving the health of the education
professionals. Reducing
the workload of Arts/ Philosophy/ Sociology subjects eventually affected
teachers and students in the learning process and, in addition, made it
difficult and compromised the professional development and health of teachers.
In 2021, the three disciplines were the only ones that suffered the reduction
of the workload in the context of the state of Paraná.
According to Koepsel et al. (2020), the construction of Law no. 13,415,
of February 16, 2017 (Brazil, 2017), BNCC
(Brazil, 2018) and the National Curriculum Guidelines for High School (Brazil,
1998), did not occur democratically, with a broad debate with society seeking
to deepen reflections on the relevance of a reform that put knowledge of the
subjects in a hierarchy. The authors criticize the defense of youth protagonism, because young people have not even been heard,
and the whole process that young people will opt for formative itineraries is
demagogic, because, according to Koepsel et al.
(2020, p. 4), “[…] the dream and will of each subject, as proclaimed, can only
be cultivated from certain conditions”.
Jolandek et al. (2021),
in research with 106 Math teachers, point to the need for curricula update which is not always easy to perform. The
research showed that approximately one in three teachers did not realize the
challenges of the BNCC
implementation, but most responding educators understood that there seems to be
a BNCC alignment with the content
required in large-scale evaluations. The authors were able to see situations of
insecurity by educators, in view of the BNCC’s
imposing process, without a broad debate with the school community, given the
implementation of the BNCC occurred
by Provisional
Act. In the view of Jolandek et al. (2021), even in relation to Mathematics
content, there would be a need for a broader debate, more dialogue and reflections at the time of
fixing the basic content defined by the BNCC.
Adrião and Peroni
(2018, p. 50) systematically question the interference of private financial
institutions in the definition of educational public policies and claim that
such policies are materialized “[…] in public education privatization
strategies”. It is noteworthy that many advocate the partnership between public
institutions and private institutions in the educational scope. In fact, just
as there are large networks of companies managing Higher Education, there is
also a great interest that the State will fund Basic Education and Basic
Education leaves the scope of public institutions. It is education being
evaluated as a merchandise. It is the advancement of neoliberalism in which
capital now defends its interests in the educational scope, decimating public
education.
Lotta
et al. (2021) conducted an analysis of High School reform in Brazil and
realized that, instead of aspirations for changes arising from states,
the change is caused in Brazil by the Provisional Act no. 746, of September 22,
2016 (BRAZIL, 2016), from the Temer administration (it is important to consider
that the BNCC began to be implemented
in the Dilma administration, but there was also consultation with Education
professionals). In the words
of Lotta et al. (2021, p. 405): “On the one hand, the reform led the context of
policy to a high conflict, as it was approved and established by a government
not legitimized by a portion of the society”. In this sense, the conflicted environment in the
implementation of the New High School was already planned, but we do not find
literature reflections that contribute to assessing the reason for
hierarchy of disciplines, except to think about the issue of external
considerations that focus on learning Portuguese language and Mathematics.
After
these initial considerations of theoretical discussions on the New High School
and their impact on the education of future generations, we highlight the research
we conducted, starting with its characterization as qualitative research. According to
the BNCC, the focus of education must be in the development of skills, defined
“[…] as mobilization of knowledge (concepts and procedures), skills (practices,
cognitive and socio-emotional), attitudes and values to resolve complex demands
of daily life, of the full exercise of citizenship and the world of work”
(Brazil, 2018, p. 8). Skills,
in a synthetic way, are: 1. Knowledge; 2. Scientific, critical and creative
thinking; 3. Cultural repertoire; 4. Communication; 5. Digital Culture; 6. Work
and life project; 7. Argumentation; 8. Self-knowledge and self-care; 9. Empathy
and cooperation; 10. Responsibility and citizenship.
Regarding the legal frameworks that underlie the BNCC, we found Art. 205 of the 1988
Brazilian Federal Constitution, in which it appears that, to fulfill its task,
the Brazilian nation must set minimum contents for the formation of Basic
Education (Brazil, 1988). It also underlies the BNCC Art. 9, item IV, of the National Education Guidelines
and Framework Law (known in Brazil by the acronym LDB) – Law no. 9,394, of December 20,
1996 –, which provides that, although curricula are diverse, skills and
guidelines must be common (Brazil, 1996). LDB
also advises that essential learning be respected throughout the national
territory (Brazil, 1996).
The
concept of competence, widely exploited worldwide with regard to the
development of skills to be developed in the students, is adopted by the BNCC. Students, according to the BNCC, should “know” and should also
“know how to do” (Brazil, 2018). In this sense, “[…] the explanation of
competences offers references to the strengthening of actions that ensure the
essential learning defined in the BNCC”
(Brazil, 2018, p. 13).
Breaking
with reductionist views, the BNCC
affirms its commitment to integral education, promoting a broad formation and
favoring democracy and overcoming any and all prejudice. Given the plurality of
ideas and cultures in Brazil, BNCC
works with basic content and skills aimed at ensuring minimal and equal
training for all students in a given federation. At the same time, it respects
the diversity and specificities of each region. Thus, to fulfill its
pedagogical objectives, the aims of BNCC, among other elements, are:
contextualization of knowledge; decision on the importance of interdisciplinarity;
formative evaluation that takes into account learning contexts; permanent
teacher training processes.
However,
among the criticism of the BNCC,
Silva (2020) points to the concepts of neoproductivism,
neoescolanovism and neoconstructivism,
which are an expression of neoliberal impacts on education. Thus, the author
presents how the neoliberal scenario directly impacts the restructuring of
education and resumes technicist ideals of Law no. 5,692/1971. Drawing from
Gramsci, Silva (2020) understands the importance of avoiding a dual school that
is different for rich and poor. From this perspective, we have one of the
approaches of critics of the BNCC and
the New High School, who point out that private schools will continue to
emphatically teach the contents that are charged in the university entrance
exam. In this sense, it is important to emphasize the differences and
inequalities between those who leave public schools and those who are graduates
of private education.
Limaverde (2015) also denounces a false
promise that there is a minimum curriculum, composed from neoliberal
perspectives and that “[…] would be the main catalyst for the promise of
equitable qualification for the labor market” (Limaverde,
2015, p. 85). The author, in her conclusions, presents that minorities were not
attended, such as quilombolas,
indigenous people and other minority groups in the construction of the BNCC. The author criticizes the
mathematization of the curriculum and the indexes of external evaluations,
which do not contribute to the improvement of public education.
Laval
(2004, p. 12) points out that, from 1980 onwards, “[…] appears a conception
both more individualistic and more market of school”. Thus, we can argue that
the advent of the BNCC is one of the
facets of the predominance of capital over the educational sphere as large
capitalist conglomerates come to intervene directly in education. Laval (2004)
reports that, from 1950 onwards, the university-company that has profit as a
goal using as marketing “scientific efficiency” emerged in the United States.
According to Laval (2004), we have in the international scenario a “world
education market” that advocates to everyone the idea that schools are
companies, that students are clients and that the purpose of the school and
university institution is to prepare for the job market.
We
conducted these critical considerations regarding the BNCC and Laval’s (2004) considerations to conceptually
contextualize what happened in the state of Paraná with the reduction of the
disciplines of Arts/ Philosophy/ Sociology has to do with a process of
installation of a pragmatism in content selection from the context of the High
School reform. Such
pragmatism stems from a mistaken view that considers school institutions as
companies. In this sense, after all, what would be the usefulness of the
disciplines of Arts/
Philosophy/ Sociology in the curriculum? In a neoliberal perspective, none. It
is reduced to only one weekly class precisely to make the teaching of these
disciplines compromised and expand the idea that these disciplines should
disappear from the curriculum.
Qualitative nature of research
Esteban
(2010), in its epistemological reflections, understands the difficulty in
establishing a definition on
the nature of qualitative research. If we make a literature review about the
terms, we find understandings that imply a broad number of approaches that are
called “qualitative”. However, despite this multifaceted comprehension of what
could be understood as qualitative research, Esteban (2010, p. 127) clarifies
that: “Qualitative research is a systematic activity oriented to an in
depth understanding of educational and social phenomena, transforming
socio-educational practices and scenarios, decision making and also the
unfolding and development of an organized body of knowledge”.
Some definitions of Bogdan and Biklen (1994) on
the characteristics of qualitative research are: in qualitative investigation
the direct source of data is the natural environment, constituting the
researcher the main instrument; qualitative investigation is descriptive – the
data collected are in the form of words or images rather than numbers;
qualitative researchers are more interested in the process than simply in results
or products (Bogdan & Biklen, 1994).
The
research was conducted through a questionnaire inserted in Google Docs and sent
to approximately 150 Arts/Philosophy/Sociology teachers, which was answered by
31 teachers. The survey was open to welcome responses for two months in the
second half of 2021. Collection of participants’ emails was due to interaction
in the “Paraná Humanities” group of WhatsApp.
The
inclusion criteria of research participants were effective by being teachers,
whether they were chosen by
competitive examination or hired from the Paraná State Teaching Network, who
were working at the time and in the classroom during the year 2021. In addition
to the questions of characterization of research subjects, the other questions
of the questionnaire were: 1. What are the impacts of reducing the workload of
the discipline of Philosophy or Sociology or Arts for your teaching
performance? 2. Did you have to assume various disciplines different from
yours? How was this experience? 3. Was there any dialogue from your employer before reducing the workload of the
discipline of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology? 4. What are the impacts on student
learning in these subjects? 5. What is your opinion on the implementation of
the New High School? 6. What is your perception of this context of changes in
the state of Paraná?
After data
collection, the analysis of the methodology followed the Textual and Discourse
Analysis. Data categorization was mediated by the Atlas TI software with the
help of which we were able separate data into categories for further analysis
and discussion with the theoretical framework that underlies our research. Moraes and Galiazzi (2011, p. 7)
propose a discursive methodology for the analysis of data aimed at “[…]
producing new understandings about phenomena and discourses”. Procedurally,
according to the methodology presented, we have three parts: disassembly of texts, establishment of relationships and grasp of new developments. Our analysis was
based on the division of data into four emerging categories, namely:
●
Category 1: Need to select content/learning lag.
●
Category 2: Decreased students’ critical capacity.
●
Category 3: Loss of the essence of the discipline.
●
Category 4: Reduced class time impacts student
learning.
Characterization of research subjects
In the case of the characterization of research
subjects, we highlight, in the tables that follow, the aspects of the
discipline the teacher works on, the way that the teacher was hired, number of
years that the subject has been working as a teacher and specialization in the
area in which he/she works. Table 1 summarizes the area of expertise of the
research respondents.
Table 1
Discipline the
teacher works on
Discipline |
Respondents |
Percentage |
Sociology |
12 |
38.7% |
Philosophy |
11 |
35.5% |
Arts |
8 |
25.8% |
Source:
elaborated by the authors.
As for how the teacher entered school,
chosen by
competitive examination
prevailed, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Teachers' work type
Type |
Respondents |
Percentage |
Chosen by competitive
examination |
24 |
77.4% |
Hired |
7 |
22.6% |
Source:
elaborated by the authors.
The number of years that the subject has been
working as a teacher was another element that was asked. No teacher stated a
period of less than five years; the others, in descending order of respondents,
stated the way Table 3 shows.
Table 3
Number of years
working as a teacher
Number of years |
Respondents |
Percentage |
Between 5 and 10 years |
12 |
38.7% |
Between 10 and 15 years |
9 |
29% |
Between 15 and 20 years |
4 |
12.9% |
More than 25 years |
4 |
12.9% |
Between 20 and 25 years |
2 |
6.5% |
Source:
elaborated by the authors.
An important element evidenced in the
characterization of research subjects is that all teachers have a teaching
degree in the discipline in which they are working, which exemplifies the
relevance of the course for their teaching. In the scenario of Philosophy and
Sociology, upon their return to the curriculum, there were initially few
teachers qualified to act in the discipline, thus, in the face of such a
scenario, there is an improvement of the framework in the context of formation
in the discipline itself. On the one hand, it is noticeable that teachers work
in the areas of their specific training, being a positive aspect of education
in the state of Paraná; on the other hand, the drastic reduction of the
discipline of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology demotivates teachers in their
professional development process.
As for the question of being licensed and expert
in the area in which they work, 26 participants answered yes (83.9%), and five
participants responded no (16.1%). We realize, therefore, that, in addition to
being licensed in their respective areas, teachers have, for the most part,
specialization.
Results presentation
Four categories emerged from the data analysis,
as we pointed out earlier. We will initially deal with the first category: Need
to select contents/learning lag. In this category, we will see the perception
of teachers of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology who evaluate as extremely negative the
reduction of the workload of these subjects, not only in view of the issue of
teaching professional development itself, but also the negative results in
student learning.
According to the teachers, in the context of
only one class per week of each subject, it is very difficult to continue the
studies. Based on the following words, the decision without consultation with
the school community of reducing the classes of the subjects mentioned
eventually impacted the quality of students’ learning.
P1: With only one class per week and associated with
the pandemic itself it is very difficult to handle all the curriculum demands. So I see myself having to “select” some content over others.
P4: Fragmented, superficial learning.
P5: Undermined education. Less interactive and
dialogic classes… shallower. Greater disregard for the discipline.
P6: Learning will be delayed. And this will have an impact on student education, as a
citizen.
P8: Students will not have access and/or in depth knowledge
in various Arts’s contents and/or artistic
techniques.
P10: The reduction of subjects greatly affected the
learning process, as it created a barrier to the involvement of students to the
proposed learning situations. Learning requires time, so when this is taken
away, the impact is immense.
We realized, by the words of the teachers, the infeasibility of learning the disciplines of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
with this attitude of the maintainer during the year 2021. As P10 affirmed, the
impact is immense, and learning will be
compromised. In this sense, we emphasize the contribution of these disciplines
in the formation of critical thinking of future generations.
Koepsel et al. (2020) criticize the
hierarchy of disciplines without an epistemological foundation of
justifications to prioritize some disciplines over others. Emphasis on training
for the labor market is a strong indication that there is the possibility of a
dual secondary school in which the poorest are immediately trained for the
labor market in public schools; and, in the private network, future generations
are trained to study in universities.
The
neoliberal system creates constant situations of inequality for the poorest,
and, with the false slogan of youth protagonism,
students will be attributed “[…] the perverse consequences of this tendency
that would be charged to the young subject himself ‘by the wrong choice’ of a
certain ‘life project’” (Koepsel et al., 2020, p.
11). We clarify that, with the implementation of the New High School, the
subjects of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology will continue with a lower workload
compared to what they had before the proposed New High School: of the six
classes they had in High School in the current conjuncture of the state of
Paraná, in 2022, there are only two mandatory ones – a considerable reduction.
Regarding
the second category, which deals with the reduction of students’ critical
capacity, we observed the importance of the disciplines of
Arts/Philosophy/Sociology in contributing to all other disciplines to form
critical citizens who are able to look at the world in a way that goes beyond
common sense. It is noteworthy that all the disciplines of the curriculum have
the potential to awaken the young to critical consciousness, but, in a specific
way, the disciplines mentioned in this research have a particular contribution
to the formation of the critical spirit of future generations. The question is
as follows: Why only did they have their load reduced? Teachers’ words about
this category were:
P2: Decrease in argument capacity and critical sense.
P12: […] especially in this political conjuncture,
students miss the opportunity to improve their critical gaze at reality.
P13: Low reflection on the part of students who have
less time for provoking classes to think.
P15: In the conception of my area, we currently have
students that fear speaking in public,
aesthetic vision was undermined without knowing how to deal with it, and with
much more atrophied bodies regarding the movement.
P18: Disregard and reduction of time implies the
reduction of content and critical formation as well. The impact is negative
because it decreases access to the discipline.
P20: Less knowledge… less reflective capacity… more
scientific distancing.
P22: The cognitive and critical part is undermined by
this reduction.
P27: I think of Sociology as a space for reflection on
world issues. It is much more than passing on concepts. Many of my colleagues
use this classroom space in this way. In this sense, the biggest loss is this
reflective space, greater than content. In the year before these subjects were
cut, they already put only one class a week in the classroom. And it paid off,
they were able to deal with all the content. But with that remote interaction,
there was no space for projects, for debates, to understand the reality that
students bring, there were no ambitions to reconsider the space for
transformations. That’s what it loses the most. That same year, they even
selected names for the Multidisciplinary Team Project, the school project that
deals with ongoing training for teachers on teaching the history of black and
indigenous populations. They just called, but they didn't do anything, no tests
to fill in online, nothing at all. It is a complete deflation of the
interactive and reflective school space.
From the words of the teachers in this category, we
realized how negative the reduction in the workload of
Arts/Philosophy/Sociology was, especially in the sense of how much these
subjects contribute to the critical improvement of High School students. We are
at risk of a new totalitarianism (given the choice of instrumental reason over
criticism) in the world, and these disciplines, as relevant as the others of
the curriculum, are an antidote for students to become alienated subjects and
that contribute for a critical analysis of society, avoiding ways of a
totalitarian thinking and disrespect for the dignity of the human person.
Jolandek et al. (2021) present that, even regarding the
implementation of the BNCC regarding
the discipline of Mathematics, there are great challenges to be overcome. If
this research has revealed discrepancies in adapting Mathematics content, which
is a compulsory discipline in the BNCC,
we can imagine how arbitrary it was in relation to Arts/Philosophy/Sociology
disciplines, whose reduction occurred in advance in the state of Paraná in
2021. Jolandek et al. (2021) cite the fact that the
disciplinary contents of Mathematics were aligned with what is demanded in
large-scale assessments. Perhaps this is also the reason why the three
subjects, whose presence in the curriculum we are discussing, were drastically
reduced without any reflection with the school community in the state of Paraná during
2021.
Subsequently,
on the third category, which concerns the loss of the essence of the
disciplines, the Arts/Philosophy/Sociology teachers had, in 2021, a minimum of
classes in which they should also perform two evaluations and recoveries during
a term. We point out, therefore, that the referred disciplines have limited
time for the development of the content, being undermined and losing its essence as knowledge. It is not our focus only
to defend these disciplines in isolation, but to express that the whole of the
curriculum with the different knowledge that needs to be preserved so that
respect for the integral formation of students prevails. Next, we present the
words of the teachers whose speeches were integrated into the third category:
P3: Art, at many times, when it was part of the curriculum, was in the classroom
as a moment of creation and expression, and that was its differential in
comparison to other disciplines. Without these moments, the essence of art is
lost.
P7: They get frustrated because when the topic during class becomes
more interesting, the class is over. It’s all in a rush and they miss the
warmth of discussions about the contents. Certainly, they are learning less,
but it is difficult to prove with data, as we are in a pandemic, and we are
practically forced to teach.
P11: […] an intellectual cognitive lag related to
social, moral problems etc.
P23: It’s big, because the contents have to be passed
on in a very reduced way. This decreases the absorption capacity of the
students.
P26: Decreased student contact with Art teachers, the
contents need to be worked on superficially, because the time we once had in
the classroom was reduced.
In
this category, we observed the teachers’ perception of the students’ learning
lag in the subjects of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology as a result of the reduced
workload in 2021 in the state of Paraná. The contents ended up being passed on
in a reduced form. Teachers failed to work all the contents planned for each
grade, given that the workload was reduced by 50%. In addition, it is worth
mentioning the strain on teachers (although this issue is not the subject of
this paper) in being able to meet the demands of 30 classes with Philosophy
classes. Considering 40 students per class, each teacher, when assuming 40 hours of class, is responsible for 1,200 students. It
is a condition that dehumanizes and is, pedagogically, unfeasible.
Therefore,
how to understand such changes in the curriculum scenario in public education
in Paraná? Adrião and Peroni (2018) claim that such
changes are guided by the interests of neoliberalism and the various private
institutes that claim to be defending educational interests, but, in reality,
defend the interests of neoliberal capitalism. There are several educational
groups that treat education as a commodity, which are already present in Higher
Education and are interested in acting in Basic Education. It is common in
several reports on the New High School, on TV, representatives of institutes
defending it. Thus, it is necessary, by public school teachers, a resistance to
this movement that seeks to appropriate public education to corporate interests.
From
the reflections carried out by Adrião and Peroni
(2018), we noticed that a critical view is of paramount importance when
analyzing the reasons for reducing the workload of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology,
because they are disciplines, along with others, that provoke thinking and
instigate critical thinking about the society. We would like to emphasize that
we understand the importance of all disciplines contributing to the critical
development of the future citizen, but we understand that Arts/Philosophy/Sociology,
by their own trajectory, are disciplines that, once reduced in the curriculum,
end up impacting directly on the set of knowledge of all disciplines with a
view to the formation of critical citizens and committed to social
transformation.
In
the fourth category, we grouped the statements of the participants in the sense
of a practical understanding that the reduction of class time ended up
impacting the students’ learning, in view of the reduced workload and the
contents being rushed.
P9: Mainly in High School, the class time is extremely
reduced. Counting the period of checking students’ presence, organizing the
classroom, weeks of tests, the time for the development of practices and for
teaching content was immense. It is impossible to handle the curriculum
proposed by the state and the students, consequently, learn less and, also, are
less involved with the respective disciplines and their practices. Time is
critical to learning. Special students have even more difficulty with all this.
P14: They don’t have quality time with the teacher and
to develop in-depth work in the subjects.
P16: One class a week is very complicated, you can’t
do anything.
P17: Totally, it is impossible to work the minimum
from content in a 50-minute class when half of it is also bureaucracy.
P19: It has greatly compromised learning. The debates
we used to do were suspended.
P21: Content reduction, difficulty approaching
students, there is no time to work on the contents, as there are five classes
per quarter just to evaluate; what remains hardly generates time for content, deepening discussions,
generating debates or doing work that develops various skills such as
communication, production, creativity. With the absurd number of students, we
cannot do discursive activities or discussions. Evaluations become only
multiple-choice tests.
P24: Everything is in a rush, so students do not have
time to absorb the proposed content.
P25: Difficulty in organizing classes that improve the
educational process due to lack of time.
P28: […] superficiality of the contents.
P29: In addition to the impact caused by the pandemic,
it is notorious the content lag, as students who were in the second grade, for
example, had in their grid the prospect of two classes in the third grade,
which causes small adaptations to try to fulfill what was programmed. The early
grades end up starting with some discrepancies, which demonstrates that, in the
medium term, there is a loss of content, and, in the long-term, in the
education of these individuals.
P30: Again a weak learning.
P31: […] they are complaining about just a class per
week.
The
teachers’ statements in this category point towards the importance of realizing
that time is spent in the classroom with checking student’s presence and other
bureaucratic organizations. Therefore, the class time ends up being greatly
reduced. In addition, with the reduction of two classes to one per week, the
workload of Arts/Philosophy/Sociology ended up directly impacting artistic,
philosophical and sociological learning. In this context, from the theoretical
framework presented, we can see how much the reduction in the workload of some
subjects to the detriment of the increase in others left the curriculum
impoverished due to the devaluation of the Human Sciences in 2021 in the state
of Paraná and, consequently, the critical development of students.
Lotta et al. (2021) present us with important
considerations in the perspective that the implementation of the High School
reform that is underway did not come from popular will, but from a Provisional
Act of the Temer Government. Who would be interested in the reduction in the
workload of disciplines that stimulate creativity and critical sense? Based on
what theoretical framework was it proposed, the hierarchy of disciplines? We
did not find the answers to these questions in recent literature on the
dissemination of the New High School.
Final
considerations
With
this study, we found that the referrals for the implementation of the New High
School in the state of Paraná that have been carried out are extremely
imposing, without dialogue with the school community. All subjects are
important, including Arts/Philosophy/Sociology. In this sense, based on the
research data, we point out that the reduction in the workload of these
subjects causes major future problems in the training of future generations.
According to the results of the empirical research answered by 31 teachers,
discussed in this paper, we observed that the results of such a reduction are
already being felt, which directly impact the critical education of future
generations. BNCC is a document with
legal, normative force, and there is a margin of flexibility for each state of
the Federation to act at the time of application in its respective educational
system. In the case of the state of Paraná, in 2021, we had the reduction of
the Arts/Philosophy/Sociology workload to only one class per week. The impacts on learning were evidenced in
the results of this research, given that with only one class per week in High School the students’ learning
of these disciplines is thoroughly
compromised.
We
consider Portuguese Language and Mathematics to be central and important in the
education of future generations, but we cannot, in any way, devalue the other
disciplines. Curriculum, as a whole, has a peculiar importance; thus, we cannot
value some disciplines more than others. In the context of the
current neoliberalism in which we live, with the advancement of the voracity of
capitalism, we have a situation in which it is evident that some were born to
study only to meet the demands of the labor market, and others were born with a
better financial situation, who will have the opportunity for broader training
to continue their university studies. Therefore, we advocate, in a democratic
society, the overcoming of any student dualism and thus the conditions of
equality of opportunity.
Finally,
we follow the unfolding of the impacts of the implementation of the BNCC in the different units of the
Federation with the perspective of a critical analysis, in view of what was
evidenced here of a hierarchy of the disciplines that compromises the
integrality of the curriculum. All subjects have a critical character, but, in
a special way, Arts/Philosophy/Sociology, once drastically reduced in High
School, end up jeopardizing the integral education of critical subjects.
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[i] PhD in Education,
Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (2019). Teacher of
Philosophy in the State of Paraná and collaborating professor at the Universidade Estadual do Norte do
Paraná – Jacarezinho campus.
[ii] PhD in Science Teaching and Mathematical Education, Universidade Estadual de Londrina
(2011). Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa.
[iii] Bachelor of Laws, Faculdades Integradas de Ourinhos (2014). Virtual
teacher at UNEAC Courses and at the Paraná State Secretary of Education.