Narratives about the militarization of state schools in Mato Grosso: what do Portuguese teachers have to tell us?
Narrative research; Militarization of schools; Portuguese teaching.
The militarization of state schools in Mato Grosso is part of a public policy for Brazilian education and is configured as a historical process that has been implemented on a large scale since 2019. Given this scenario, this research aims to study the experience of Portuguese teachers who had to face the process of militarization of schools in Mato Grosso, with the specific purpose of investigating their perceptions regarding this policy and its effects on their teaching practices. The theoretical framework covers considerations about the militarization of schools (Brazil, 2019; Mato Grosso, 2019; Santos, 2020), Portuguese language teaching (BNCC, 2018; DRC/MT, 2021; Magda Soares, 2002; Ribeiro; Coscarelli, 2023) and teacher experience (Brandão, 2017; Clandinin; Connelly, 2015; Larrosa, 2002). To reach the research aims, narrative interviews were used as an instrument of data collection, which were collected individually, following a pre-prepared narrative interview script, based on Schutze's model (1970). The research participants were six Portuguese language teachers, who worked in a militarized school and were teaching before, during and after its militarization. This study takes the form of a narrative research. To process the data, a holistic-content approach is adopted (Lieblich; Tuval-Mashiach; Zilber, 1998), together with the thematic unit perspective (Jovchelovitch; Bauer, 2002). The results were co-constructed in the dynamics of interpretation and meaning making of the reality presented by the teachers who collaborated in the research. The partial analysis of the narratives shows that teachers describe the militarization of state schools in Mato Grosso as an authoritarian process, which generated disagreement, tension and conflict in the teaching context. In short, for teachers, the militarization of schools does not guarantee significant teaching and learning Portuguese experiences, as this process contributes to an increase in the challenges faced in the exercise of their teaching.