ABSTRACT:
This essay briefly reviews Brazilian pedagogical studies published in the mid-twentieth century, with the aim of constructing benchmarks for a democratic curriculum agenda focused on educational innovation. It takes as contextual dimension the paradoxes of democracy, widely described by contemporary social theorizations, associated with the concern of elaborating pedagogical alternatives in a scenario of intensification of neoliberal and neoconservative policies in Brazil. We bet on the conceptual widening of educational innovation, juxtaposed to the frameworks of democratic school governance, entering the political struggle around its meanings. The promotion of opportunities for students, dialogicity as content and method, and the selection of relevant school knowledge are conceptual references, sought in the writings of Anísio Teixeira, Paulo Freire and Demerval Saviani, that will serve as a basis for the reconstruction of democratic curriculum practices in Brazil. Through heterogeneous theoretical traditions, these authors offer critical and creative possibilities for the reconstruction of the democratic school in our country.
Keywords:
school; curriculum; educational innovation; democracy; Brazil