Pedagogias da Sul: decolonial perspective in continuing professional development for education of ethnic-racial relations^*67

Abstract

This article analyzes part of the experience of a teacher professional development project conducted by the Regional Education Office of Campo Limpo (DRE-CL), during the government of Mayor Fernando Haddad in São Paulo (2013-2016). Pursuant to the objectives for education detailed in the program of goals of the term of office in this period, the professional development project of DRE-CL set as one of its objectives to enforce laws no. 10,639/2003 and no. 11,645/2008. To this end, the Office elaborated a series of professional development activities, such as courses and seminars, with contents that challenged curricular bases, rooted in the Eurocentric white Western intellectual canon. Thus, an approximation with the decolonial theoretical and methodological perspectives was started, which grounded most of the training processes developed by DRE-CL during the period considered. “Da Sul,” the expression found in the title of this article, values this political-pedagogical proposition originated in the south region of the city of São Paulo, inspired by the decolonial epistemic insurgence produced in the global South, referring to one of the key books published in this context (Santos; Meneses, 2010). In this paper, based on the review of the documents produced by DRE-CL in the period, especially its Pedagogical Political Project - unpublished document in the municipal system - and the syllabi of organized professional development events, the objective was to understand this professional development project, in terms of conception, scope, and outcome, which confirm its protagonism in the history of the Municipal Education System of São Paulo. As provisional conclusions, the following stands out: - the project of Campo Limpo seems to have had an influence on the professional development proposal of the Municipal Department of Education (SME); - the decolonial perspective favored territorialization of the SME curriculum, reinforcing the constitutional principle of Democratic Management; - including the historical-critical approach, the decolonial perspective contributes to deepening and radicalization to combat racism in education.

Keywords:
Teacher professional development; Laws 10,639/2003 and 11,645/08; Decolonial perspectives; Regional Education Office of Campo Limpo; Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations

Resumo

O artigo analisa parte da experiência do projeto de formação continuada de professores conduzido pela Diretoria Regional de Educação do Campo Limpo (DRE-CL), durante a gestão do prefeito Fernando Haddad em São Paulo (2013-2016). Em consonância com os objetivos para a educação explicitados no Programa de Metas do mandato nesse período, o projeto de formação continuada da DRE-CL definiu entre seus objetivos garantir a aplicação das leis nº 10.639/2003 e nº 11.645/2008. Para isso, a Diretoria desenvolveu uma série de atividades formativas, como cursos e seminários, com conteúdos que desafiavam as bases curriculares, arraigadas no cânone do pensamento euro-branco-ocidental. Assim, iniciou-se uma aproximação com as perspectivas teórico-metodológicas decoloniais, que fundamentaram grande parte dos processos formativos desenvolvidos pela DRE-CL no intervalo considerado. “Da Sul”, expressão presente no título deste artigo, valoriza essa proposição político-pedagógica oriunda da zona sul paulistana, inspirada pela insurgência epistêmica decolonial produzida no Sul global, aludindo a um dos principais livros publicados nesse contexto (Santos; Meneses, 2010). Neste trabalho, a partir da análise dos documentos produzidos pela DRE-CL no período, especialmente seu Projeto Político Pedagógico - documento inédito na rede municipal - e as ementas de eventos formativos promovidos, buscou-se compreender este projeto de formação continuada, em termos de concepção, alcance e desdobramentos, os quais evidenciam seu protagonismo no histórico da Rede Municipal de Ensino de São Paulo. Como conclusões provisórias, destacam-se: - o projeto de Campo Limpo parece ter influenciado a proposta formativa da Secretaria Municipal de Educação (SME); - a perspectiva decolonial favoreceu a territorialização do currículo emanado pela SME, reforçando o princípio constitucional da Gestão Democrática; - somada à abordagem histórico-crítica, a perspectiva decolonial contribui com o aprofundamento e a radicalização do enfrentamento ao racismo no âmbito da educação.

Palavras-chave:
Formação continuada de professores; Leis 10.639/2003 e 11.645/08; Perspectivas decoloniais; Diretoria Regional de Educação do Campo Limpo; Educação para as Relações Étnico-Raciais.

Introduction

Who was passing by Avenida João Dias heading to downtown, at the level of station Giovanni-Gronchi, in the middle of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, would see a graffiti-covered building with esthetic representations of the peripheral culture. In the main facade, the map of Latin America represented by an indigenous woman was seen, to the left, the inverted map of the city of São Paulo with the south region standing out, at the center, and the map of African continent, also portrayed by the woman figure, to the right. Below the painting there was the inscription “Epistemologias da Sul” (Epistemologies from South).

The Regional Education Office of Campo Limpo (DRE-CL) is located at the building, and the described artwork was made by the educator Marilu Santos Cardoso, in partnership the art collective A Banca and other servants acting in DRE at the time. The phrase refers to the book Epistemologias do Sul (Meneses; Santos, 2010), one of the main theoretical references of DRE-CL team at that time, both to the preparation of its pedagogical political project and the development of its proposal of teacher professional development. We consider appropriate to use it in the title of this article, not only as a contribution to the memory of a public project of teacher professional development intended to be insurgent, but also because in this wording we support the work and authorship in line with the decolonial perspectives of production of knowledge.

The region of work of the education office to which this work refers to includes neighborhoods such as Campo Limpo, Capão Redondo, Jardim São Luís, and Jardim Ângela and is highlighted by its cultural effervescence, with cultural gatherings, art collectives, and many other community organizations that, among other fronts, are directly committed to the fight for the right to education. As a reflection of this, the acting of schools and pedagogical practices developed in the territory has been gaining more space in the academic environment, with productions that reveal a diversity of experiences (Grilo, 2019; Salomão, 2021; Santos, 2021; França, 2022; Amorim, 2022; Duarte, 2023).

In this article we present part of a doctoral research ongoing since 2021, which addresses the project of teacher professional development developed by DRE-CL during the term of Mayor Fernando Haddad (2013-2016). As it will be possible to follow, this project was strongly influenced by the decolonial thinking, emerging in the 1990s, with Modernity/Colonialty Group, proposing the renewal of Social Sciences in Latin America and the decolonial turn, understood as the “radicalization of the post-colonial argument in the continent” as explained by the Brazilian political scientist Luciana Ballestrin (2013, p. 89). By explaining that the expression “decolonial turn” was created by the Puerto Rican philosopher Nelson Maldonado-Torres in 2005, the author synthesizes how “the theoretical and practical, political and epistemic, movement of resistance to the logic of modernity/colonialty” (Ballestrin, 2013, p. 105). Mentioning the Argentine semiologist Walter Mignolo, she emphasizes the decoloniality idea that was already presupposed when the concept of coloniality was created and that, for that author, “the origin of decolonial thinking is more remote, emerging in contrast since the foundation of modernity/colonialty” (Ballestrin, 2013, p. 105).

In confluence with what is emphasized by Joze Bernardino-Costa, Maldonado-Torres, and Ramón Grosfoguel in the introduction of book Decolonialidade e pensamento afro diaspórico (2020), we understand that decolonialty acquires a broader sense from the fight of Black and Indigenous peoples that have been opposing to the logics of modernity/colonialty since the 16th century, thus adding to theoretical perspectives that, more than evidencing colonial violence, emphasize forms of resistance. According to the organizers, the option for this broader sense of decolonialty allows to cover “the long tradition of resistance of black and indigenous peoples” and those called by Frantz Fanon as the “damned of the earth,” as well as the “ideas, interventions, and elaborations also present in the tradition of black thinking” (p. 9-10)¹⁰.

In short, we understand that the decolonial perspectives translates the intentionality of breaking with the hegemony of White-occidental power in several spheres, being the production of knowledge one of the main foundations of this dispute. Throughout this text, we will seek to show how the adoption of decolonial perspective potentialized the education of ethnic-racial relations in DRE-CL and other regional departments. As we will see further, in the documents produced by the DRE-CL and SME, the term “decolonization” is used, which we kept not problematizing it, assuming its sense under the auspices of decoloniality, as we presented.

To favor the understanding of the experience of professional development of DRE-CL in the broader context of the territory from where it came from and in the structure of the Municipal Department of Education (SME) of São Paulo, we will start with topics that shortly introduces the region of Campo Limpo, the organization of the Department and the public educational policy backing that preceded and influenced the proposal analyzed here, especially those created during the term of Paulo Freire leading the SME. Finally, we will dedicate ourselves to the subject of our work, that is, the project of teacher professional development in DRE-CL under the decolonial perspective, developing two aspects: the professional development activities, conducted by DRE and its pedagogical political project, a document highlighted by its uniqueness, once there is no record of the existence of such material in any other DRE of the municipal network.

Zona Sul, Zona Show

The Mapa da Desigualdade de 2023 (Rede Nossa São Paulo, 2023), base year 2022, offers an analysis of different socio-economic indicators in the 96 districts of the city of São Paulo, revealing the strong presence of the Black population in the districts where our research is inserted. While Jardim Ângela shelters the largest contingent of Black population in the city, with 60.1%, the district of Moema, also located in the south region, has the lower rate of Black and mixed-race population: 5.8%. Racial disparities in the indicator follow the data related to the theme Employment and Income: while Moema ranks the 26th place of the indicator Formal job offer, with an average monthly wage of R$ 4,171.67, Jardim Ângela ranks the 92nd place, with an average income of R$ 2,657.92.

Data allows to size the record of pauperization and the expropriation of rights of the territory of Campo Limpo, which until the 1970s had a strong rural characteristic, with ranches, small farms, and large watershed areas. After this period, the region had its occupation process intensified with the arrival of a mass of workers in precarious situations, many of them factory workers of the industrial park of the district of Santo Amaro. Therefore, without the follow-up and assistance of the State, the region resigned as a peripheral territory of the city of São Paulo (Salomão, 2021).

In the 1980s, with the decline of the industrial park of Santo Amaro and the increase of unemployment, the region started to face a severe and extensive economic and social crises, reflected in an extremely violent scenario at the peripherical areas of the south region, being that the District of Jardim Ângela received the “title” of the most violent neighborhood on earth in 1996, according to the United Nation Organization (Folha, 2006).

At the time, the districts of Capão Redondo, Jardim São Luís, and Jardim Ângela were stigmatized as the “triangle of death” (Dassoler, 2012), being that the specific cutting of these murders fell over Black youngsters between 15 and 25 years old. Such data reflects a strong wave of police violence and acting of death squads in the region since the 1980s with no attention in the press or causing public commotion.

Based on this scenario, the social movements of the territory, which acted since the beginning of the occupation process in the fight for the guarantee of rights started to develop actions to denounce violence and negligence of the State. It is highlighted the March for Life and Peace, that occurs annually since 1996, on the Day of the Dead and has São Luís Cemetery, a symbol of the grief of families in the territory, as meeting place (Crowe; Maria; Simões; Tavanti, 2016).

In this scenario of popular struggle for rights, there is also an intense cultural movimentation in the region, with the prominence of the rap music group Racionais MC’s, from Capão Redondo, that in the 1990 reached national projection with lyrics that denounced the routine of oppression, abandonment of the State and violence in the territory.

By presenting an analysis of the history of south region from family memories, participation in popular groups of social and artistic movements, the Black artist and intellectual “Salloma” Salomão make some reflections on the processes involving the advancement of capitalism and, as a consequence, racism, raising awareness of movements of resistance that arise in the margins of the city: the peripherical Black youth, starting from São Paulo, after the late 1980s, built an innovative cultural and pedagogical method that combines political-ecological conscience and social-esthetic intervention called Hip Hop” (Salomão, 2021, p. 74).

According to Roberth Miniguine Tavanti (2018), there is an important connection between the hip hop movement and the literary production of writers of south region peripheries in the late 1990s. To the author, from prominent productions such as Capão Pecado, by Ferréz (2000), the organization of literary collectives with independent seals and the initiative of poets from the territory that promoted gatherings such as Cooperifa and Sarau do Binho, the movement of Literatura Marginal Periférica establishes in the territory, constituting one of the main forms of popular mobilization, aligning art, culture, and education.

The complexity of this territory, considering the aspects of the occupation process, the marks and omissions of the State and the history of participation and struggle of population in several fronts, directly influences the professional development project developed by DRE-CL between 2013-2016.

The organizational structure of SME and DREs

According to the website of Secretaria Municipal de Educação, DREs “are administrative divisions that coordinate the implementation of the educational policy of the municipality, in each territory”⁸. DRE-CL - regional body in charge of the professional development project investigated by this article - is one of the thirteen boards in the city, acting in educational units of the subprefectures of Campo Limpo and M’Boi Mirim, serving four districts: Campo Limpo, Capão Redondo, Jardim Ângela, and Jardim São Luís.

The SMEs are composed of several coordinating offices and units, being the Pedagogical Coordinating Office (COPED) in charge of elaboration of and guidance on the municipal educational policies. Based on the COPED guidance, the DREs coordinate the municipal educational policies to be implemented within the territories.

According to the most recent structural hierarchy organizational chart of SME⁹, the DREs are organized as follows: School Supervision, Pedagogical Division - DIPED, Division of Administration and Finance - DIAF, Division of Unified Educational Centers - DICEU and Educational Units of the Municipal Education System of São Paulo (RMESP).

Being the DREs the most important bodies in the SME’s organizational chart after the Department’s office with its coordinating offices and units, are taken as “golden eggs” in the distribution of positions during the administration. The lower the level of commitment of a given administration to the human right to quality education for the entire population, the more politically driven and less qualified appointments to the leadership of the Regional Education Offices (DREs) tend to be, with consequent repercussions for the everyday work of both offices and schools.

In 2013 the SME was reorganized, and a few sectors had their titles changed. The Division for Technical-Pedagogical Guidance (DOT-P), a sector in charge of teacher professional development in the territories, started to be designated as Pedagogical Division (DIPED), undertaking several functions, as established in art. 71 of the Municipal Decree no. 59,660 of August 4, 2020, among them,

I - To implement, monitor, and evaluate curricular policies and actions, professional development policies, and assessment policies within the SME” and” II - to implement and coordinate educational and management actions related to [...].

[...] education for ethnic-racial relations, environmental, gender, and inclusive education” (São Paulo, 2020, emphasis added.).

As can be inferred from item I, the Pedagogical Division (DIPED) works as the central hub for the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of the municipality’s main educational policies, with education for ethnic-racial relations (ERER) falling under its purview.

During the period examined in the research, the DOT-P team had responsibilities similar to those outlined above; however, beyond the regulations established by the Municipal Department of Education (SME), we observed distinctive features of this unit within the DRE-CL, such as conducting a weekly study group similar to what takes place in the municipality’s educational units during collective study period times. It can be inferred that these groups within the DRE were a legacy of Paulo Freire’s administration at the SME, when teacher educators also took part in professional development activities through study groups (Nascimento, 2023).

With attention to this aspect, in order to support the analysis of the experience developed in the DRE-CL, we should highlight certain elements in the history of teacher valorization policies in the Municipal Education Network of São Paulo (RMESP), as of the administration of Paulo Freire as Municipal Secretary of Education.

The influence of Paulo Freire’s administration the educational policies of the municipality of São Paulo

Inspired by the political experience she had acquired in social movements, Erundina grounded her administration in the principle of social justice combined with democratic governance, a binomial that presupposed for the set of oppressed sectors of society not only “access to material goods and to dignified public services,” but also “the distribution of (political) power,” that is, a “dimension directly related to democratic governance,” as “it concerned the power to participate in decisions regarding the conception and operation of public policies” (Nascimento, 2023, p. 136).

Sharing this commitment, within the Education portfolio, Paulo Freire guided his work by the principle of dialogicity, “expressed in the capacity to speak and to listen, to hear and to reflect, verbs to be enacted by all individuals and at all levels, from the Department of Education to the school floor” (Nascimento, 2023, p. 137). Such principle guided the program of continuing professional development for the municipality’s educators, which was one of the main strategies of the curricular reorientation The concepts of participation and decentralization should also be emphasized, as they constituted a fundamental political instrument of the administration, inspiring the creation and strengthening of the Educational Action Centers (NAEs), “which represent the decentralized and territorialized dimension of the administration” (Gadotti; Jacobi, 1994, p. 64).

Ana Maria Saul e Alexandre Saul (2016, p. 19) emphasizes that, in his role as a public administrator, Paulo Freire developed a “paradigm of continuing professional development” through the integrated action of the Division for Technical-Pedagogical Guidance (DOT) and the Educational Action Centers (NAEs), in the systematic monitoring of study groups composed of teachers and other educators working in municipal schools. Based on a horizontal and dialogical action that associated theory and practice and considered the challenges of everyday school life, this professional development program sought to distinguish itself from the less reflective initiatives previously promoted within the system, such as “refresher courses,” which offered prescriptive and formulaic teaching methods.

Amid the development of this experience, the Municipal Public Teaching Statute of São Paulo, Law No. 11,229/1992, was enacted as the result of an intense process of mobilization and debate between the unions representing the municipal public teaching profession and the representatives of the government of Mayor Luiza Erundina. In addressing the challenges of teacher professionalization in Brazil, Bernardete Gatti and Elba Siqueira de Sá Barreto highlight the continuing professional development experience carried out in the municipality of São Paulo between 1989 and 1992, mentioning that “a factor favorable to the implementation of the project was the creation of a teaching statute” (Gatti; Barreto, 2009, p. 204). According to the authors, that occurred due to the establishment of one third of the teaching hours for the performance of remunerated extracurricular activities.

Anticipating what would only later be set forth in art. 62 of the National Education Guidelines and Framework Law (LDBEN, Law No. 9,394/1996), which establishes the responsibility of the federal government, states, and municipalities for continuing professional development of education professionals, the guarantee of such professional development in the Statute is related to the principle of valuing teaching professionals, stipulating, among other provisions, the commitment to the “permanent and systematic professional development of all personnel in the Teaching Career, promoted by the Municipal Department of Education or carried out by universities” (Law No. 11.229/1992, art. 4, item I).

The measures adopted during the administration of Luiza Erundina and Paulo Freire instituted structural advances for municipal education, such as the provision for continuing professional development of the teaching workforce by the Statute of the Teaching Profession, which enabled the institutionalization of a systematic approach to continuing professional development in the municipality, even though subsequent administrations may have distorted the meaning of “permanent and systematic” by offering episodic sessions and focusing more on individual teachers than on school teams as a collective.

Observing the development of public education policies in the city of São Paulo following the administration of Luiza Erundina until the beginning of Gilberto Kassab’s administration in 2009, the researcher and school supervisor of RMESP, Denise Regina da Costa Aguiar, emphasizes that the administrations of Paulo Maluf (1993-1996) and Celso Pitta (1997-2000) in the municipal government marked the strengthening of a total quality conception in line with a managerialist model of education, resulting in a “rupture with the process of building a public, popular, and democratic school” (Aguiar, 2011, p. 7). This model, focused on “results,” had a direct impact on the continuing professional development policy, leading to the departure from the reflective approach of the NAEs, which were renamed as Regional Municipal Education Directorates (DREMs). Regarding the professional development meetings held in the DREMs, the author reports that “they were largely focused on technical-administrative and legislative matters, and even when oriented toward the development of the Pedagogical Project, the discussions were centered on the bureaucratic guidelines supporting the proposals” (Aguiar, 2011, p. 7).

According to Aguiar, the perspective of democratic and participatory education was resumed during the administration of Marta Suplicy (2001-2005), of the Workers’ Party (PT). By analyzing the document Retomando a conversa: construção da política educacional da Secretaria Municipal de Educação, referred by the author, we identified that, at the very beginning of Marta’s administration, a series of initiatives fostered during Erundina’s term were reinstated, such as the reestablishment of the NAEs and the proposal for “a process of permanent and systematic continuing professional development that should be structured based on the experiences of teachers and schools, providing reflection across all fields of knowledge” (São Paulo, 2001, p. 7).

Just as the administration of Marta Suplicy incorporated conceptions and practices developed by Paulo Freire in the municipality, considering the specificity of the historical and political context of each experience, it is also possible to observe these influences in the administration of Fernando Haddad. Even with the explicit nuances and differences between the Workers’ Party experiences - particularly the fact that Luiza Erundina was part of minority currents within the PT and deeply committed to a project of popular emancipation-, with the due proportions, it is possible to assert that there was a convergence of conceptions in the field of education.

Despite criticisms of Mais Educação São Paulo, a curricular and administrative reorganization movement instituted under Haddad’s administration through Decree No. 54,452, of October 10, 2013, for instance, regarding the Pedagogical Management System (SGP), which, beyond being an instrument for monitoring school information, had potential for oversight and control of pedagogical practices, we observe points of convergence between Mais Educação and the conceptions of Paulo Freire at the SME. We highlight the development of the curriculum for the interdisciplinary (4th-6th grades) and the authorial (7th-9th grades) cycles, mobilized with teacher participation through the formation of working groups, in which teacher representatives from schools were granted leave to attend training sessions promoted in the DREs. From this initiative, we observe the protagonism of these regional instances, identifying the strengthening of a decentralization policy that gave greater visibility to local territories.

Notwithstanding the advance of neoliberal policies under Fernando Haddad’s administration, which encouraged contracting in early childhood education, thereby outsourcing and weakening the direct municipal network at this stage of basic education, as well as precarizing teaching labor by increasing the number of non-tenured teachers in outsourced institutions - these measures were diametrically opposed to the project of strengthening the working class promoted by Erundina’s administration - it is possible to assert that during the period examined in this article, just as with the NAEs, the DREs also played a leading role and acted directly with the communities served, which reinforced the visibility of local territories.

It is worth emphasizing that Haddad’s educational policy was marked by the expansion of actions directed toward Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations (ERER), which reverberated in the training project at DRE-CL, establishing racial issues as the central axis of the work carried out, particularly from a decolonial perspective.

Continuing Professional Development under Haddad

Based on a bibliographic survey, we located some studies on teacher training in the SME during the period covered by this article, and others focusing specifically on the activities of DRE-CL during the same interval, though with different analytical scopes.

Presenting an overview of continuing professional development policies adopted in the RMESP between 2003 and 2018, with a focus on the implementation of Laws No. 10,639/2003 and 11,645/2008, Adriana de Carvalho Alves and Cláudia Cristina Haddad (2019) draw attention to the expansion of courses, seminars, and other training events related to ethnic-racial themes between 2013 and 2016. They note that the Goals Program under Haddad’s administration established this objective in Goal 58, which aimed to “enable the implementation of Federal Laws No. 10,639/2003 and No. 11,645/2008, incorporating Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous History and Culture into the official school curriculum” (São Paulo, 2013, p. 38).

In a study linking racial equality policies to educational policies in São Paulo, Eduardo Januário (2020) also highlights Goal 58, emphasizing the importance of targeted investment policies to combat racism. Based on analysis of budget allocations and expenditures dedicated to racial equality policies in the municipality from 2004 to 2018, the author points out that only from 2014 onward is it possible to identify budgetary data exclusively directed toward continuing professional development from this perspective.

Alves and Haddad conclude that this investment led to an increase in the availability of training opportunities focused on ERER in the RMESP between 2013 and 2016. In a 2020 article, they further analyze Haddad’s administration, providing a detailed survey of the training events addressing ERER.

Through research on the official website of the São Paulo City Official Gazette, using descriptors related to ethnic-racial themes, the authors identified the training events held during this period and analyzed the concepts addressed based on their titles. They observed a progression in the debates, beginning with a general approach “on topics of Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations, focused on the applicability of Law No. 10,639/03” in 2013, progressing to a “diversification of themes” in subsequent years (Braga; Haddad, 2020, p. 222). The year 2015 concentrated the largest number of courses and training events, covering topics such as the myth of racial democracy, the diaspora, whitening policies in Brazil, institutional racism, intersectionality, African civilizational values, hip hop and samba culture, and training activities highlighting the histories of Black personalities (Braga; Haddad, 2020).

A key element for our research is that the survey conducted by the authors registers the introduction of decolonial debate in this period. At the end of 2015, the course “Racial Relations, Education, and Representation of the Black Population: Challenging and Decolonizing the Curriculum” was offered. According to the announcement published in the Official Gazette, the SME, in partnership with the DREs, offered 2,180 places with the following justification:

This course is part of the discussion promoted by Law No. 10,639/03 [...] establishing the mandatory teaching of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture. One of the paths opened by the law allows us to observe how, in curricular proposals, there is a massive presence of what we can call hegemonic cultures.

In this sense, the cultures or voices of minority and/or marginalized social groups, lacking important power structures, continue to be silenced, if not stereotyped and distorted, and this course constitutes a powerful space for educators to gain resources to challenge this curriculum, through engagement with and reflection on the intellectual and cultural production of the Black population (São Paulo, 2015, p. 34-35, emphasis added).

The course’s proposal demonstrates a movement toward reflection on curricular content through decolonial perspectives, as explicitly shown in the third day’s theme: “Decolonizing the Curriculum: Through Alternative Epistemological Paradigms - Dialogues with the Visual Arts” (São Paulo, 2015). We emphasize that the movement led by the SME’s Center for Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations (NEER) stems from studies initiated at the regional level, indicating not only the DREs’ protagonism in territory-based actions (as observed by Alves and Haddad, 2019) but also their influence on the SME’s overall continuing professional development policy.

Further analysis of Official Gazette data reveals a significant occurrence of the word decolonization during Haddad’s administration. Previously, it appeared only in a few references, mainly related to independence processes in colonized countries. Between 2013 and 2016, decolonization appears in 39 publications, 36 related to the SME, one in the bibliography of a public teaching exam, and the remainder in training events for education staff, mostly referring to curricular debates: decolonization of the curriculum.

Ten training events were promoted by the SME’s central units; an additional 25 activities, including courses and seminars whose syllabi addressed decolonization of the curriculum, were held by the regional directorates of Itaquera, Santo Amaro, Penha, Butantã, Pirituba, Jaçanã/Tremembé, São Mateus, and Campo Limpo.

Analysis of the syllabi shows that, in DRE Campo Limpo, the intention to decolonize the curriculum is explicitly connected to the characteristics of the peripheral populations in the territory. This focus is also evident in the 2013-2016 Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) documents produced by DRE-CL, revealing a deepening of this theoretical perspective in that region, linked to the implementation of Laws 10,639/2003 and 11,645/2008.

The DRE-CL Political-Pedagogical Project: Opening Paths

At the start of Haddad’s administration, DRE-CL drafted its Political-Pedagogical Project (2013-2016) - DRE Campo Limpo and, in 2015, released a complementary document showing the goal of aligning training proposals in the territory with decolonial perspectives, emphasizing the need to collectively develop pedagogies connected to the identity of the communities served in municipal schools in the region.

This initiative was unprecedented not only at DRE Campo Limpo but also across the entire network, as no similar document was found in the other 12 Regional Education Directorates. The PPP was produced under the guidance of regional director Alexandre Ferreira Cordeiro, who considered it important that the DREs explicitly articulate their projects and objectives for the territories, as schools are required to do.

In the PPP’s Regional History section, the territory is presented through its constitutive memories:

To think about the history of the Campo Limpo region, we chose to analyze the present, meaning reflections on “many memories and many histories.” Memories of diverse social groups, of people who live there and have a critical perspective on their territories, without losing sight of temporal relations. This is not a unilateral view constructed from hegemonic culture versions, even though these are problematized here. We start from the perspective of social actors who live, survive, build relationships, and, above all, fight and resist all difficulties and obstacles they encounter (DRE-CL, 2014, p. 11).

The document also refers to the historical occupation of the region, highlighting the presence of Guarani Indigenous peoples and their displacement due to population growth driven by the sale, donation, and subdivision of farms and smallholdings, which characterized the region until the mid-20th century. This respectful treatment of the territory, acknowledging the Indigenous peoples as its first inhabitants and explaining the disordered occupation that displaced them, is a key aspect.

In the section outlining the objectives of DOT-P, then headed by Maria Cecília Carlini Macedo Vaz, the following goal is highlighted

To seek teaching and learning excellence through the restructuring of professional development for education staff in the Campo Limpo region, with a view toward curricular reorientation, within the framework of Freirean education and the dialogical methodology” (DRE-CL, 2014, p. 46).

Thus, it can be understood that Paulo Freire’s program at the SME directly influenced the continuing professional development project underway at DRE-CL.

Despite the relevance of this initiative, racial issues are addressed in a limited manner in the PPP, with no explicit mention of Laws 10,639/2003 or 11,645/2008. The 61-page document contains few direct references to racial themes, mentioning only a cautious commitment to discussing racial oppression. However, in the section on regional history, a fundamental element emerges when reflecting on the strength of local artistic movements:

[...] thinking about quality in education means recognizing other ways of learning and teaching, acknowledging that an ethnocentric model was imposed to the detriment of many forgotten cultures, and that the pursuit of “a standard” of humanity reinforced prejudice, racism, and distortions (DRE-CL, 2014, p. 22).

The complexity of this reflection, linking the hegemony of Eurocentric White knowledge to the perpetuation of racism and advocating for the visibility of other knowledges to promote quality education, frames the continuing professional development project being nurtured at DRE-CL. These conceptions are further elaborated in the 2015 PPP annex.

Pedagogias da Sul: The DRE-CL Continuing Professional Development Project

In the 2015 PPP presentation letter, signed by director Alexandre Cordeiro and his team, the living and dynamic nature of the document was reaffirmed through collective re-planning (DRE-CL, 2015). In the document, DOT-P’s proposal team opened with a letter of intentions that resumed the path of previous years, emphasizing the sector’s conceptual direction:

Conceptually, we seek references that contribute to the construction of the Critical Popular Curriculum, whose premises include valuing local culture and decolonizing thought from a counter-hegemonic perspective, which denaturalizes the idea of impartial and universal knowledge (DRE-CL, 2015, p. 29, emphasis added).

The PPP outlined measures to align DOT-P’s work with the Mais Educação São Paulo curricular initiative, committing to develop a curriculum “customized to the characteristics of our region and corresponding to the interests of local residents” (DRE-CL, 2015, p. 29). From the first PPP document, the territory’s identity emphasized peripheral culture, largely shaped by Black experiences and productions. The section Introduction to Curriculum Decolonization: Proposals and Dialogues at DRE-CL was signed by Marilu Santos Cardoso, highlighting the intention to design meaningful curricula for local communities, promoting “the valorization of local cultures and the strengthening of counter-hegemonic possibilities” (DRE-CL, 2015, p. 30).

This vision materialized in training proposals through Focus Groups for all cycles of Basic Education, Early Childhood Education, and Youth and Adult Education (EJA), connecting the Mais Educação curricular reform with the decolonial approach underpinning DOT-P’s training project. The 2015 annex shows efforts to incorporate decolonial perspectives in each of six focus groups. For example, Literacy and Languaging included: “each semester also includes a seminar on Literacy and Languaging practices from a curriculum decolonization and Social Quality of Education perspective” (DRE-CL, 2015, p. 43).

Training initiatives involved not only university researchers but also local educators and artists, many Black, in accordance with the National Curriculum Guidelines for Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations and the Teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture (Brazil, 2004). Two exemplary courses reflecting the PPP’s intentions were: “Popular Cultures - Knowledge Construction in the Peripheries, in partnership with Cooperifa, October 2015; and “Decolonial Options at DRE Campo Limpo: Performative Pedagogies, November 2016.

The Cooperifa course, with 300 places, aimed to “stimulate reflections on existing knowledge in our territory” (São Paulo, 2015), featuring panels with poets, local educators, and academic representatives, demonstrating horizontal integration of local and academic knowledge. The justification referenced DRE-CL’s decolonial training project:

JUSTIFICATION: The Campo Limpo Regional Education Directorate has grounded the Decolonization Proposal, i.e., a Decolonial Pedagogy, to design a curriculum serving the interests of residents in the Campo Limpo and M’Boi Mirim regions. We believe in the re-signification and reinvention of schools and advocate transforming public education facilities into spaces where knowledge can be constructed, with local residents as the main actors, aligned with their real needs. This entails thinking critically about the curriculum, considering its intentionality and understanding it as a political stance toward reality (São Paulo, 2015, emphasis added).

This example aligns with what was previously mentioned regarding the syllabi of the professional development events promoted by the SME and other DREs during the period, revealing that, according to our analysis, the actions carried out by the DRE Campo Limpo stand out for their grounding in the decolonization of the curriculum perspective, as announced in its PPP.

Similarly, the course Decolonial Options at DRE Campo Limpo: Performative Pedagogies included modules such as “Postcolonial Studies and Critical Interculturality,” “Oral Traditions in Literacy,” “Curriculum - History and African Heritage Cultures,” “Decolonial Perspectives and Curriculum Reflection at DRE Campo Limpo,” and “Youth and Ethnic-Racial Relations at DRE Campo Limpo” (São Paulo, 2016, p.).

The DRE-CL’s choice of a decolonial perspective brought content, authorship, and approaches challenging knowledge coloniality, reinforcing the implementation of Laws 10,639/2003 and 11,645/2008:

The decolonial perspective decisively contributes to combating racism through education, by not only questioning Eurocentric paradigms but also, in an insurgent political-theoretical-practical-pedagogical movement, creating curricula and pedagogical practices capable of forging what I have called the “new naturalness” (Nascimento, 2025, p. 124).

This perspective complemented the Freirean historical-critical approach as a “political-pedagogical turn” (Nascimento, 2025, p. 125), deepening discussions on racial relations in SME’s continuing professional development.

Final Considerations

Our analysis indicates that the training actions developed by DRE-CL between 2013 and 2016 achieved the curricular alignment stated in its PPP, based on a decolonial theoretical framework for continuing professional development with local educators.

Despite differences, we observe continuity across the three Workers’ Party administrations in São Paulo. The Erundina-Freire mandate established permanent professional development grounded in political-pedagogical principles, Freirean and historical-critical pedagogy, and material conditions provided by the Teaching Statute. Marta Suplicy’s administration (2001-2004) resumed and maintained some of Erundina’s strategies.

Under Fernando Haddad administration, innovation came through adopting a decolonial perspective in continuing professional development projects targeting ERER, introducing previously absent themes. This “political-pedagogical turn” (Nascimento, 2025) radicalized the Freirean historical-critical approach. Materially, it was enabled by earmarked financial resources for teacher training to implement Laws 10,639/2003 and 11,645/2008 as part of government program goals.

We identified that decolonial perspective was present in documents from several DREs, reflecting the territorialization of the Mais Educação curriculum. At DRE-CL, its adoption was justified by territorial characteristics and demands, emphasizing local knowledge, practices of artists, educators, and thinkers, as reflected in training sessions. This initiative was also marked by the creation of a DRE-specific Political-Pedagogical Project, unprecedented in municipal educational policy.

Our ongoing research suggests that the DRE-CL initiative during this period continues to influence the territory. The decolonial approach, alongside other theories challenging coloniality in curricula and teacher training, supports effective implementation of Laws 10,639/2003, 11,645/2008, and the National Curriculum Guidelines for Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations (DCNERER). By the end of the 2013-2016 administration, art produced at the DRE-CL building embodied the aesthetic, cultural, and knowledge values the Political-Pedagogical Project sought to promote. From 2017 onward, the project was interrupted, and “the graffiti [...] symbolizing the unity between schools and peripheral cultural and resistance movements, was erased” (Amorim, 2022, p. 62). Nonetheless, our research indicates that the pioneering DRE-CL initiative continues to bear fruit in the territory.

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• *
  English version by H3 Traduções - Traduções Juramentadas e Técnicas. The authors take full responsibility for the translation of the text, including title of books/articles and the quotations originally published in Portuguese.
• 6
  Data availability: All the dataset supporting the results of this study was published in this article.
• 7
  Translation note: The original Portuguese term Epistemologias da Sul contains an intentional grammatical subversion: in Portuguese, sul (south) is a masculine noun, but the feminine article da (a contraction of de + a, meaning “from the”) is used here instead of the standard masculine do. This gendered article is not an error — it is a deliberate political and aesthetic choice that ties the concept to Zona Sul, the southern periphery of the city of São Paulo. Since English lacks grammatical gender, the translation Epistemologies from the South cannot fully capture this subversion. The term should therefore be read not merely as a geographical reference, but as a linguistic act of reclamation rooted in the specificities of that territory.
• 8
  - The Ijoba Moyãmi - Group of Research on Politics and Educational Management and Differences-Diversity, created by professor Iracema Santos do Nascimento, has been dedicating to study the possible confluence among certain perspectives and decolonial authorships and the Marxist theory, especially the elaborations of the Black Marxism in the global south.
• 9
  - Diretorias Regionais de Educação - DREs. Available at: https://educacao.sme.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/dres/. Acessed on: Jan 20, 2025.
• 10
  - Available at: https://educacao.sme.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/organograma/. Acessed on: Jan 20, 2025.

Edited by

• Editor:
  Prof. Mônica Guimarães Teixeira do Amaral

Data availability

Data availability: All the dataset supporting the results of this study was published in this article.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  08 May 2026
• Date of issue
  2026

History

• Received
  01 Feb 2025
• Reviewed
  17 Nov 2025
• Accepted
  09 Feb 2026