Território e políticas educacionais neoliberais: relações entre desigualdade socioespacial e centralidade das avaliações externas em escolas estaduais de ensino médio em Uberlândia-MG

Abstract

This research analyzes the connections between neoliberal educational policies, large-scale external assessments, and the production of educational inequalities in state high schools in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, viewing education as a socio-spatial phenomenon shaped by multiple factors both internal and external to schools. It focuses on the consolidation of neoliberalism and its impact on Brazilian public education, highlighting the central role played by external assessments, accountability models, and funding mechanisms in the reorganization of educational policies. In this context, the study aims to understand how these policies intersect with socio-spatial inequalities produced in urban space, influencing school operating conditions and educational performance indicators. The research is classified as basic, exploratory, and descriptive, employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It is grounded in a review of literature and documents, an analysis of legislation and public policies, a survey of educational, socioeconomic, and urban infrastructure indicators, and the creation and interpretation of thematic maps of Uberlândia. The results show that using indicators from external assessments, such as the Basic Education Assessment System of Brazil (Saeb), for ranking, accountability, and resource allocation tends to overlook historically rooted territorial inequalities, placing responsibilities on schools and their individuals, exceeding their capacity for intervention. Spatial analysis reveals a close link between educational outcomes and the unequal distribution of urban infrastructure, public facilities, and the population's socioeconomic conditions. The study concludes that understanding educational quality requires incorporating the territorial dimension into the analysis of educational policies, recognizing that addressing inequalities demands actions that go beyond the logic of individual accountability and take into account the concrete conditions under which geographic space is produced.