“THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM IS NOT NEUTRAL”: THE RIGHT TO LEARN AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE FACE OF NEOCONSERVATISM

Abstract

This article analyzes how neoconservative discourses affect curricular disputes in Brazil and may restrict the constitutional right to education, especially regarding the freedom to learn, teach, and think critically. The research problem asks whether the defense of alleged school neutrality undermines social justice in the curriculum and the plural education guaranteed by the 1988 Brazilian Constitution. The general objective is to examine the relationship among curriculum, neoconservatism, and the right to education, with emphasis on the constitutional principles of freedom of teaching, pluralism of ideas, equality, and human dignity. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative, bibliographic, and documentary approach, based on works on curriculum, curricular justice, and neoconservatism, as well as legal documents and decisions of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court concerning freedom of teaching and the discussion of socially sensitive topics at school. The results indicate that curricular neutrality operates as a political discourse that may conceal ideological choices, limit teacher autonomy, and reduce schools to instruments for reproducing hegemonic values. The article concludes that legal protection of a democratic curriculum requires educational policies committed to pluralism, inclusion, social participation, and the prohibition of pedagogical censorship incompatible with the democratic rule of law.