Educational management of the state of Paraíba by social organizations: tensions and challenges

Abstract

Changes in public management, largely due to changes in the technological, informational, organizational and managerial pattern that have taken place in the world of work, have resulted in new methods of administering educational systems around the world based on the so-called New Public Management. Educational reforms have been implemented, to a greater or lesser extent, in different countries, targeting the formation of subjects with new skills and competences desired by the globalized market. In Brazil, the establishment, in 2004, of a legal framework for public private partnerships was decisive for the emergence of quasi-market models, with repercussions on educational systems. Beyond the acceptance of market standards, educational reforms boosted the transfer of educational management to the private sector, either through “pedagogical” institutions linked to private companies or Social Organizations (SO) established for the purpose of managing public goods. In Paraíba State, northeastern Brazil, all schools in the state network had their administrative management delivered to two SO. How was the process of transferring the administrative management of these schools and what are the implications of this change in school management, particularly in pedagogical management? This qualitative article, with bibliographic and documentary research, aims, therefore, to analyze the transition from the management of state schools to Social Organizations. It also intends to perceive the changes in the pedagogical management processes from the new requirements contained in the management contract signed with the OS and its possible consequences in the school organization of the state of Paraíba.