Currículos da EJA modular no Centro Educacional de Jovens e Adultos - Paulo Freire: perspectivas para além da BNCC

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how curricula are constructed in the classrooms of Youth and Adult Education (Educação de Jovens e Adultos – EJA), within the modular format, at the Paulo Freire Center for Youth and Adult Education (Centro Educacional de Jovens e Adultos Paulo Freire – CEJA), in 2024, considering the tensions arising from its alignment with the Brazilian National Common Core Curriculum (Base Nacional Comum Curricular – BNCC), as established by CNE/CEB Resolution No. 1, of May 25, 2021. The study seeks to answer the following research question: To what extent did the curricula constructed in and through Modular EJA at the Paulo Freire Center for Youth and Adult Education (CEJA), in 2024, go beyond alignment with the Brazilian National Common Core Curriculum? The specific objectives were: a) to reflect on the conception of curriculum underpinning Modular EJA at CEJA; b) to contextualize the research setting and locus; c) to analyze CEJA documents and institutional records, as well as the legislation underpinning Modular EJA; and d) to observe the curricular practices of teachers working in Modular EJA at the educational institution investigated. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach, with an emphasis on the case study method, drawing on Lakatos (2010) and Yin (2016). Data were produced through different instruments and procedures, including semi-structured interviews, conversation sessions, classroom observations, and documentary analysis. The findings reveal that, although there is an institutional orientation toward aligning EJA with the competencies and skills established by the BNCC, the curricula effectively enacted in everyday school life are permeated by tensions, negotiations, and processes of resignification. The analyses indicate the presence of curricular practices that go beyond the prescriptive and homogeneous nature of official policies, constituting expressions of pedagogical resistance. Such practices are materialized through flexible planning, the recognition and appreciation of the prior knowledge of working students, the development of interdisciplinary proposals, and the articulation between school content and life experiences. The data demonstrated that Modular EJA as practiced at CEJA is not limited to reproducing official curricular guidelines; rather, it constitutes a space of possibilities for the construction of emancipatory curricula, despite being constrained by institutional limitations and the absence of specific policies for this educational modality.