The Brazilian public school system for basic education is going through both a loSS of cultural identity and a pedagogical crisis. The chaotic expansion of its tasks as well as such recent policies as voucher-based programs, new evaluation systems, and the inclusion of topics related to health, ethics and culture into the academic curriculum seem to define a reality in which social integration acquires a central position in daily school life. This scenario leaDS us to review the concept of "integral education" in its pragmatist approach. The works of Dewey and Habermas provide us with sufficient philosophical foundations to create a concept of educational institution that may contribute to constructing a new identity for the basic education system, thereby responding to the democratic challenge facing the present Brazilian society.
Integral education; School's functions; Pragmatism; Basic education