The subject of art and the theater: regulation and autonomy of the formal curriculum (1996-2016)

Abstract

The present article analyzes art as a school subject that occupies a place made up of prescriptions that regulate its practice. The choices that define curriculum content and procedures may vary. States and Municipalities, through their professional staff, produce local approaches, supported by guidelines. However, these definitions are supported by regulations that guide the professionals from one specific place, made by a State that, despite having decentralized curricular definitions, does not give up on keeping conducting its orchestra. Given this context, the question that articulated the writing of this article is: How are the different guidelines that regulate the subject of art combined: theater language in the formal curriculum of the municipality of Maringá? The research methodology was directed by the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2016). The curriculum prescriptions were understood from the concept of strategy suggested by Certeau (1998), since they intend to reasonably structuralize, standardize, command, and plan the groundwork of teaching and learning practices. In our final considerations, we explain the subject of art that belongs to the school culture and, therefore, is guided by structuring regulatory elements. In view of the regulatory elements, it is possible to notice discrepancies in the intentions to control the action of the individuals who receive the curriculum prescription, being greater within the municipality. This can cause the attribution of less autonomy to teachers and students, as well as a higher transfer of autonomy between federated entities, that is, between the powers of the bodies in the administrative structure of public education systems.