Culture and Expressions of Democratic School Governance in Public Education: Challenges of New Managerialism

Abstract

The article examines how the organization and management of a public school are structured under the influence of new managerialism and how this logic affects expressions of school culture. The study adopts a qualitative approach and a case study conducted in an institution recognized for its management practices, located in the interior of Pernambuco. The analysis identifies that school management takes on multiple forms, shaped by power relations that alternate between centralization and decentralization, participation and exclusion, autonomy and control. It observes that practices associated with school democracy coexist with mechanisms of accountability, monitoring, and performance orientation, which are characteristic of the managerial model. The investigation reveals tensions between participatory discourses and practices that reinforce hierarchies, standardization, and compliance with targets. It also shows that school culture expresses habits, routines, and conflicts that interact with external demands, generating adaptations, resistance, and contradictions. The study concludes that democratic management becomes weakened in the face of the technical rationality guiding contemporary educational policies, resulting in limited autonomy and decision‑making processes that, although they involve dialogue with the school community, remain conditioned by centralized directives.