Dossification and epistemological centralization of the curriculum in Angola: limits and possibilities

Abstract

This article analyzes the development and implementation of curricular “dossification” in basic education schools in Angola. Grounded in a qualitative interpretative approach, the study combines a bibliographic review with empirical data obtained from semi-structured interviews with five public school teachers in the province of Luanda. The main objective is to understand the mechanisms through which the curriculum is conceived, hierarchized, and implemented in everyday school practices, as well as to examine the scope of teacher autonomy within a context of ministerial centralization. The study problematizes the role of the Ministry of Education in defining curricular guidelines and investigates possibilities for curricular flexibility emerging from teachers’ practices within Pedagogical Interaction Zones and classroom contexts. It argues that, although dossification operates as a centralized and discipline-based standardization mechanism guided by Western epistemological frameworks, increasing teacher participation, mediated by institutional resistance and collective mobilization, has contributed to the development of more context-sensitive pedagogical practices. The findings highlight the importance of teacher mediation in articulating institutionalized scientific knowledge with local sociocultural experiences, while also revealing persistent structural limitations in the definition and circulation of curricular content in both official documents and classroom practices.