Times of democracy and participation: the School Council as a possibility of power deconcentration

Abstract

In the course of my master’s research in education, done with the School Council of an elementary public school in the metropolitan area of the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in 2002 and 2003, I came across circumstantial and basic factors to understand how that board operates. This article discusses concerns that emerged from the dissertation and intends to elaborate on the concepts democracy, participation and power, which enable us to understand the relations established in the everyday activities of the School Council. The councils have been constitutionally established in Brazil since 1988, constituting the most concrete possibility of broadening the exercise of democracy towards the sharing of power among all those actually involved in this area. In Rio Grande do Sul the School Councils began to be implemented in 1990. They are characterized by their consultative, deliberative and inspecting functions in the administrative, financial and pedagogical spheres. Thus they represent a critique of the merely representative concept of democracy, trying to extend the exercise of power according to a participatory view and to enable the search for the true collective interests. It should be stressed that the goal is not to reach a consensus on all issues among all stakeholders. The advance of democracy occurs precisely because there is no longer just a small oligarchic group deciding on schoolrelated issues, but a majority that assumes its responsibility in the public school of which it is part. In this perspective, this analysis correspond to the articulation between participative democracy and the role of the School Council as the body that control and decides on the school that will serve to the interests of the community in which the Council is situated.

Key words: Democracy, Participation, Power, School Council.