Between Traditions and Reforms: The Place of Culture in the Curriculum of Pernambuco
Educational policies; Policy cycle; Popular culture; Social movements.
This project investigates the production process of secondary education policies in
the state of Pernambuco between 1987 and 1991, with particular attention to how
arts and popular cultural manifestations were incorporated into official curricular
documents. Drawing on the policy cycle framework proposed by Ball and Bowe
(2006), as well as Nilma Lino Gomes’s contributions on the Black Educator
Movement (2017), the study seeks to understand how the arena of disputes
surrounding policy construction became articulated within and across educational
contexts. The research adopts a qualitative approach, combining documentary
analysis with interviews involving actors who participated in the policy formulation
during the period. Through this investigation, the project aims to provide a historical
and critical interpretation that clarifies the meanings attributed to culture within
Pernambuco’s curriculum and reveals the tensions and disputes that shaped its
inclusion in the state’s educational policies.