A gestão da violência escolar no âmbito da secretaria de estado de educação de Minas Gerais e de suas superintendências regionais de ensino

Abstract

The present study was developed within the Professional Postgraduate Program in Management and Assessment of Public Education (PPGP), from the Center for Public Policies and Education Assessment (CAEd), with management of school violence as its central axis, in the context of Minas Gerais’s State Department of Education (SEE/MG), as represented by the Superintendence for School Regulations and Inspections (SRI), and within the Regional Education Superintendence (SRE). This study analyses the management of school violence in these instances, as well as the technical support from the SEE/MG for School Inspection Managers (CIEs) and School Inspectors (IEs), considering their performance alongside School Management teams. For this purpose, the scenario of growing insecurity in Brazil over recent years, originating from increased violent attacks to learning institutions, especially in 2023. The theoretical discussion focused on legislation and contributions from authors, such as Cícero (2020), Charlot (2002), Oliveira, Dutra e Ludgero (2023), Júnior (2022), Santiago (2021), and others. We sought to understand the roles of the SRI, Inspectors, Coordinators and School Management in the administrative hierarchy, based on the concepts of leadership, as well as middle- (BNM) and street-level bureaucracy (BNR), based on the theoretical perspective of Lotta, Pires, and Oliveira (2014). Therefore, our guiding question was: How can the Superintendence for School Regulations and Inspections create tools for School Inspectors to better support School Management in conducting and preventing school violence cases? The study’s specific objectives were: (I) To describe the SRI’s actions regarding the School Inspection Services, focused on guiding and monitoring school violence cases, to identify potential weaknesses in this process; (II) To analyze the SRI’s actions in the process of instrumentalization for Inspectors when assisting School Management during cases of violence in the school environment; and (III) To suggest improvements to existing measures, aiming to improve student’s perception of their school experience and (IV) to analyze the quantitative data from the SEE/MG and SREs regarding school violence records. Regarding the methodology, we adopted a descriptive, qualitative approach, with semistructured interviews. The Regional Education Superintendence who participated were selected with the criteria for the highest registered number of school violence cases. The interviews included School Inspection Managers, School Inspectors, and a representative from the SEE/MG, investigating aspects of school violence management within the SEE/MG and SREs. This field research highlighted challenges, such as: a lack of guidelines for identification and referrals of school violence cases, a need for better education on the topic; and the importance of consolidating and expanding institutional partnerships. These results led to the development of an Educational Action Plan (PAE), which outlines the creation of specific norms, the implementation of training for workers, and reinforcing the network to prevent and address school violence.