In this work we aim at pointing out the role of education in the constitution of a democratic society. The relationship between democracy and education is established by the identification of the predicates of the first, mainly from the contributions of Karl Mannheim, and the properties of the latter, especially in its political dimension, supporting the convergence between curricular processes and social needs. Based on Brazilian reality, we assert that the construction of a democratic conscience and personality stems from the achievement of another sociability, which is consonant with the values of reciprocity and cooperation, as much as sensible to the qualification of the terms that define, objectively and subjectively, the quality of life. Such quality stems, moreover, from the development of critical interpretations and/or creative proposals created as a result of and by everyday experience. Considering the precarious nature of our citizenship, as much as the ongoing educational challenges, we therefore highlight the challenge of the political education for educators. If observed and developed within ethical-political relations common to the teacher knowledge and know-how, this formative dimension can offer a humanist connotation to the process of school socialization, especially by taking into account the needs and difficulties of the popular class. More than that, it may mean the necessary mediation, although still insufficient, between the democratic project and democratic society, or even between social reality and contexts of citizenship, as well as between political needs and social change.
Democratic society; Education; Citizenship; Political education of educators
