A função social da educação em Paulo Freire e os desafios da educação no contexto neoliberal

Abstract

This study was developed within the Graduate Program in Education (Academic Master's Degree) at Centro Universitário Mais (UniMAIS), under the research line Education, Culture, Theories, and Pedagogical Processes. Its primary objective is to analyze the social function of education from Paulo Freire's theoretical perspective and to develop a critical examination of the social function assumed by education under the influence of contemporary neoliberal rationality. The study is guided by the following research question: to what extent does Freire's conception of the social function of education constitute a critical alternative to contemporary neoliberal rationality, and what are the implications of this opposition for human development, democratic citizenship, and social transformation? The research adopts a qualitative approach based on bibliographical and documentary analysis, grounded in the critical examination of classical and contemporary works in the fields of philosophy of education, critical pedagogy, and social theory. The methodological framework is based on the historical-critical perspective, which understands education as a social phenomenon embedded in historically determined economic, political, cultural, and social relations. This approach makes it possible to analyze educational processes in connection with the transformations of the capitalist mode of production, disputes over public educational policies, and competing conceptions of human development in contemporary educational thought. The theoretical framework establishes a dialogue with scholars who conceive education as a social and political practice, particularly Dermeval Saviani, Gaudêncio Frigotto, Michael Apple, Henry Giroux, and István Mészáros. The analysis of neoliberal rationality is supported by the contributions of Perry Anderson, Pierre Dardot, Christian Laval, Marilena Chaui, and Byung-Chul Han, whose works elucidate the expansion of market logic beyond the economic sphere into culture, education, and the formation of subjectivities. The findings indicate that Paulo Freire's thought remains highly relevant because it offers a critical alternative to educational conceptions that subordinate human development to market imperatives. His defense of education as a practice of freedom continues to provide a robust theoretical and ethical foundation for understanding the school as a space for the democratization of knowledge, the strengthening of democratic citizenship, and the construction of a more just, democratic, and socially inclusive society.