Abstract:
This dissertation critically examines the impacts of neoliberal rationality on Brazilian public
education, focusing on the educational policies implemented in the state of Goiás between 2005
and 2025. It adopts the documentary Pro Dia Nascer Feliz (2007) as an empirical object and
analytical device, through which it investigates how performativity, individual accountability,
and the symbolic and material precariousness of school life are made visible. The study
combines film analysis, bibliographic review, and documentary research to assess the extent to
which Goiás’ educational reforms reproduce, reinforce, or challenge managerial standards
grounded in metrics, control, and meritocracy. The findings indicate that the so-called
educational crisis is often performed and instrumentalized as a political strategy, legitimizing
practices that shift the role of public schooling from a social right to a mechanism of
performance and efficiency. Simultaneously, the voices of students and teachers expose subtle
forms of everyday resistance, which reopen the possibilities of reconfiguring the educational
space. The dissertation concludes by affirming the need for committed listening, counterhegemonic
pedagogical practices, and public policies that reclaim the school as a space for
social justice.
