Educação profissional e tecnológica: a proposta de formação da rede pública do Estado de Santa Catarina

Abstract

This dissertation is linked to the research line Society, Knowledge, and Education of the Graduate Program in Education (Master’s level) at the State University of Western Paraná – UNIOESTE, Francisco Beltrão Campus. The general objective was to analyze the trajectory of Brazilian educational policies for Secondary Education, highlighting their historical developments and understanding how these policies underpin Professional and Technological Education (PTE) in Santa Catarina, with emphasis on Law 13,415/2017 and the proposal offered by the Regional Education Coordination Office (RCE) of Dionísio Cerqueira. The guiding research question was: How have the public educational policies of the New Secondary Education, established by Law 13,415/2017, influenced the organization of PTE in Santa Catarina, and in what way is this proposal materialized in the programs offered in schools under the jurisdiction of the RCE of Dionísio Cerqueira? To address this question, the following specific objectives were outlined: to analyze educational policies for Secondary Education and their changes up to the consolidation of Law 14,945/2024; to understand the foundations of PTE in the state Secondary Education system of Santa Catarina; and to elucidate the training proposal offered in PTE programs in Santa Catarina, particularly within the RCE of Dionísio Cerqueira. A documentary research was carried out, delimiting the historical period of Brazil from 1930 to 2024, revisiting decrees, the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education, the National and State Education Plans, the Curriculum Proposal of the State of Santa Catarina, the National Common Core Curriculum, the Basic Curriculum of the Santa Catarina Territory, and the Federal Constitution, in order to seek the foundations of PTE and identify the interests and directions of youth training for work. The method of historical dialectical materialism was used to interpret education from an omnilateral perspective. The collected data were organized and discussed in three chapters: the first addresses the history of Brazilian educational policies for secondary education; the second presents PTE and its foundations in Santa Catarina; and the third analyzes the PTE proposal offered by the RCE of Dionísio Cerqueira. We conclude that PTE directed toward youth constitutes a precarious form of training, lacking innovation in physical and scientific structure, suppressing students’ critical development, distancing itself from the principles of democratic education, reinforcing meritocracy, and responding primarily to the immediate needs of the regional socioeconomic market. It is considered necessary to strengthen the struggle for polytechnic education, encompassing science, culture, and technology, which will contribute to building a future in which public schools become spaces of emancipation and transformation for all young people.