SELF-CENSORSHIP AND RESISTANCE AMONG PUBLIC TEACHING PROFESSIONALS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF SÃO PAULO:

RESEARCH REPORTS

Abstract

The article discusses the challenges and resistance faced by teaching professionals in the municipality of São Paulo in the face of the wave of conservatism affecting public education, presenting the results of qualitative research, using ethnographic techniques, with teaching professionals in the municipality of São Paulo. The aim is to investigate the effects of neo-conservative ideological political proposals on school practices. The research is justified by the growing attempt to censor teachers, the devaluation of education professionals and the strengthening of conservative ideas, a transnational phenomenon discussed in the literature and with prominent impacts on educational policy and the right to education. As a result, we identified school practices of self-censorship for fear of embarrassment and censorship within the school community itself. The themes generally mobilized in these phenomena are linked to democratic human rights agendas in education, such as the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ population, sexual health education, combating racism and the history of authoritarian periods in Brazil. We conclude that despite being widespread, these practices make up a scenario of major disputes in Brazilian society, in which possibilities of resistance, alliances and practices emerge that keep the democratic and transformative sense of education alive.