ARAUJO, Gustavo Cunha. The Arts in Brazilian Public Schools (Artigo) PDF

12/01/2017 The arts in Brazilian public schools: Analysis of an art education experience in Mato Grosso State, Brazil: Arts Education Policy Review: Vol 0, No 0
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Original Articles
The arts in Brazilian public schools: Analysis of an art

education experience in Mato Grosso State, Brazil
Gustavo Cunha de Araújo 
Pages 1-14 | Published online: 12 Jan 2017
 Download citation  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2016.1245164  Crossmark
Abstract
This article examines the relation between o⿁cial policy on art education in Brazilian basic education and what is actually
taught and done in public school teaching in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Making use of interpretative analysis, I directly
observed art classes in schools selected in the state of Mato Grosso. I also analyzed the laws, guidelines, parameters, and
other o⿁cial documents related to art education in Brazilian primary and secondary schools and compared them to the
observed practices in the selected schools. SpeciＧ�cally in Mato Grosso, there is a gap between the theoretical guidelines
of these documents and what is taught and done in public schools. Conceptions of the discipline of art education in
o⿁cial documents are not in line with the practices of this discipline in the researched elementary schools, a discord that
may contribute to art being misunderstood as a lesser discipline. Using the results of this research, I intend to seek
e퉞ective ways to discuss the arts in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools and highlight their importance in
school curricula. My objective is not only that these results beneＧ�t public schools by encouraging the expansion of
concrete and e퉞ective public policies for the quality and improvement of primary and secondary school education and
the training of arts teachers, but also that these results will assist researchers studying arts education by showing how to
extend that study beyond the academic walls.
KEYWORDS: Art education, Brazilian education, education legislation, Mato Grosso State, teacher training
Introduction
In Brazilian basic education schools, art has been a compulsory subject for the last 45 years (Law of Guidelines and Bases
of National Education n. 5.692/71; Chamber of Deputies of Brazil,  1971). However, there is a long tradition in Brazilian
education of sidelining art education. In basic education, art is often an “activity.” The art workload is much less than that
for other subjects in the curriculum, making it di⿁cult for students to fulＧ�ll their art learning goals during the school
year. Generally, classes take place once a week (sometimes they occur more than once). In addition, there is a history of
school failure in Brazilian education, including the problem of low enrollment, driven by problems such as inequality,
truancy, and the low quality of teaching.
Art classes are an opportunity for students to experience, analyze, experiment, create, discuss, and re碝ect on art,
expanding the dimension of the sensitive. Art can help to strengthen relationships and the distance among students, and
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/deXaT3dQAhNCJy3ZYX5y/full 1/27
expanding the dimension of the sensitive. Art can help to strengthen relationships and the distance among students, and
through art education, students can develop a lasting relationship with manifestations of artistic expression.
So why has the art discipline been so shortchanged? Can students learn the entire content of their curriculum during the
school year with only one class per week? Why is there a discrepancy between the guidelines of the o⿁cial documents in
Mato Grosso and Brazil and the pedagogical practice in art classes? Why is art so undervalued in the curriculum of
Brazilian schools? Questions like these disturb me as a teacher of art. I have experienced many of these situations in
recent years during my career as a regular and higher education teacher. It is unacceptable in the twenty-Ｇ�rst century to
regard art as a secondary discipline, unimportant in the curriculum. Teachers should be better trained in the specialty of
art education (Gatti & Barreto,  2009).
Another di⿁culty is the lack of appropriate physical space in which to work on projects with students. The schools I
researched for this article have no laboratories or instruments suitable for the practice of art. It is common to see
students working in small spaces, using inadequate tables for drawing, painting, and so on, and with a lack of art
materials in the school.
These are just some of the “obstacles” for teaching and learning art prevalent in schools today that contribute to the
increasing devaluation of Brazilian art in basic education.
In this article, I re碝ect on the need for arts public policy e퉞ectively aimed at initial and continuing education, emphasizing
the quality of the education in the knowledge production. I also examine the need for an e⿁cient pedagogical practice,
contextualized, that meets the real needs of teaching and student learning. Through an understanding of the
relationship between the o⿁cial documents on art teaching in Mato Grosso and Brazil and what actually happens in
practice, I attempt to broaden the discussion on public policies for teaching art in Brazilian schools.
According to Dourado ( 2015), some public policies for teaching art in Brazilian schools, such as the recent adoption of
the National Plan of Education in 2014 from Law number 13,005 and the National Curriculum Guidelines from 2013,
opened a new phase for educational policies, especially with regard to the initial and continuing training of teachers for
basic education. In this sense, such training would be backed by the articulation between higher and basic education
institutions.
In the context of the emergence of educational policies in the 1990s and 2000s, Carvalho and Wonsik ( 2015), Silva and
Buján ( 2016), and Vieira (2011) highlight some international movements that emphasize these policies in the context
of teacher education. Some example are, in the 1990s, the International Conference on Population and Development,
Cairo, Egypt, in 1994; the 45th UNESCO International Conference, Genebra, Switzerland, in 1996; in 2000, the Report to
UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century; the International Conference on
Youth and Adult Education—CONFITEA in 2016 in Brazil; the XXV Art Federation's National Congress/Educators of Brazil
and III International Congress of Art Federation/Educators—CONFAEB 2016, among many others. These international
movements, among others, could broaden the discussion about educational reforms in di퉞erent countries, with a focus
on teacher training, aimed at teaching and education with a better quality, even in碝uencing the creation of Brazilian
educational policies, which from the recommendations of these documents enabled the emergence of LDB 9.394/96, the
National Curriculum Parameters (PCNs) and the National Education Plan (PNE) (2014–2024).
It should be noted here that the discourse related to these policies has in reality been quite di퉞erent from the discourse
promoted by these policies. As a result of my concern, as an art educator and teacher, I posed the central issue of this
study: the relation between o⿁cial documents and legislation on art education in Brazilian basic education and what is
actually taught and done in public schools teaching in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
The empirical and theoretical research I present here was the result of my experience in recent years as an art teacher of
basic education in the state of Mato Grosso, and currently as a professor of visual arts in higher education at the Federal
University of Tocantins, state of Tocantins. In 2008 Law n. 11,769 was established, which was the Ｇ�rst in the country to
incorporate one of the four areas—visual arts, cinema, music, and theater—as required in Brazilian basic education, but
incorporate one of the four areas—visual arts, cinema, music, and theater—as required in Brazilian basic education, but
not exclusive. In this case, music became part of the school curriculum and should be taught in the art discipline, at least
in theory. However, only eight years later, with Law n. 13,278 (May 2016), other areas have to necessarily be part of both
primary and secondary school curricula. However, both laws have not made clear whether these areas would be
incorporated as subjects or as components that should be taught in the art discipline.
Sutters and Savage ( 2016) state that the scenario of the degree in the United States can currently have potential
implications for the debate on art education in Brazil. According to these authors, some teacher training programs are
preparing “great potential” students to work in the labor market in areas di퉞erent from teaching; therefore, highly skilled
students end up being seduced by high wages to work in other areas, primarily in administrative areas of non-formal
education. And, in the case of Brazil, there are plenty of artists and art educators working in non-formal education (e.g.,
in museums).
Some theorists (Barbosa,  1998,  2009,  2011,  2012; Iavelberg,  2014; Smith,  2011; Soucy,  2010;
Thistlewood,  2010) have tried to broaden the discussion on art education in Brazil and other countries in regard to
learning arts in public schools, to public policies for this teaching, as well as to pedagogic theories and practices
developed in this discipline, which are also scored in o⿁cial documents about the arts discipline. From the foregoing, the
Ｇ�rst part of this article presents the methodological procedures used in this theoretical and empirical research. With a
qualitative approach, using interpretative analysis (Bogdan & Biklen,  1994; Erickson,  1985), I began with direct
observation of art classes in the schools researched in Mato Grosso. Furthermore, I conducted a documentary analysis
of laws, guidelines, and parameters of other o⿁cial documents relating to the adjustment of art teaching in Brazilian
primary and secondary schools that relate to the practices observed in arts, besides analyzing the research Ｇ�eld in a
particular Brazilian context.
Then I describe a short path on art in Brazilian education and in Mato Grosso, from some signiＧ�cant cuts in this area in
the history of Brazilian education in the twentieth and early twenty-Ｇ�rst centuries. The intention is to review and
contextualize this study and extol some theoretical principles on teacher training and the regularization of the art
discipline in elementary schools and high schools, Some important theorists of art and education are highlighted in this
discussion, with the intention to expand the national and international debate on art and contemporary education.
The next section presents my analysis of the relationship between the theoretical basis of o⿁cial documents on art
education and art discipline in the public school system in Mato Grosso, from an experiment carried out on the spot.
Later, I present some considerations developed from these re碝ections. It is important to note that the analyses can
contribute to new investigations produced and socialized in the academic space on the subject, contributing to research
in art and international education.
Indeed, I stress that art in education is a commitment to the quality of public school education, as well as the
construction of knowledge in art (Araújo & Oliveira,  2015). Thus, Smith ( 2011) points out that this concern must pass
all levels of education: from kindergarten through high school and graduation. Art cannot be studied independently from
the individual's education and should not be decontextualized from the social and cultural background of the student,
because, according to this theory, the ideas and skills taught in di퉞erent contexts are part of the knowledge in art.
With the results of this research, I intend to seek e퉞ective ways to discuss the art discipline in the curriculum of primary
and secondary schools, and highlight its importance in the curriculum of these schools. I believe this study not only
beneＧ�ts public school students, by encouraging the expansion of more concrete and e퉞ective public policies for the
quality and improvement of the teaching o퉞ered in primary and secondary schools (especially arts teaching), but also
beneＧ�ts future researchers studying this issue, by showing them how to extend their studies beyond the academic walls.
Method
Data were collected and analyzed from direct observation of art classes in Mato Grosso (Bogdan & Biklen,  1994;
Vianna,  2003), speciＧ�cally in primary and a secondary schools in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil, as well as from
documentary analysis of o⿁cial documents as educational laws, Curriculum Guidelines, National Curriculum Standards,
National Guidelines in Brazil on the regularization of art education in public schools (Chamber of Deputies of Brazil,
 1971,  1997,  1999,  2006,  2008,  2013a,  2013b,  2014,  2016; Decree CNE/CEB N. 22/2005, 2005), and
also in the state of Mato Grosso (Education Secretary of Mato Grosso State,  2010a,  2010b,  2010c). I also used a
methodological tool for document analysis, which is to “supplement the information obtained by other collection
techniques” (Ludke & André  2011, p. 39). For the form of data analysis, this research is based on the interpretive
research methodology (Erickson,  1985).
Because it is a qualitative research approach, I emphasize some important aspects, noted by Bogdan and Biklen
( 1994), which I understand to be relevant in this work: the environment of the cultural context, which will be
investigated. In descriptive research, the obtained data can be written or visual and describe a certain reality observed.
Triviños (1987) conＧ�rms that most of studies in education are descriptive, and have no theoretical framework underlying
the research, so it is impossible to understand and analyze the collected information. In this thought, Bogdan and Biklen
( 1994) make an important contribution on the role of researcher/professor:
It is to better understand the behavior and human experience. They try to understand the process by which
people construct meanings and describe what these same meanings consist. Resort to empirical observation
because they consider that it is in light of the speciＧ�c instances of human behavior that can re碝ect more
clearly and deeply about the human condition. (p. 70)
The term “interpretation” refers to research using methodologies in their observation, with the validity criterion of the
“meaning of on-site actions” (Erickson,  1985). According to this theory, which marks the interpretative and qualitative
work as a matter of substantial and intentional focus, a search technique is not a research method. However,
researchers who are interested in knowing and uncovering the meanings of actions and behaviors of “actors” in their
environment can use the narrative produced in data collection. Hence, the direct relationship with the theoretical and
empirical research constitutes this article.
For Erickson ( 1985), interpretive research is signiＧ�cant for education, for an interest in the cultural and social space of
the classroom and the teaching and learning built there, and the signiＧ�cance of the actions that take place in that space,
promoted both by students and the teacher in the educational process.
In interpretive research, there is not only one theoretical matrix. Rather, the theoretical concepts that deＧ�ne the
phenomenon that is the interest of interpretive research are di퉞erent (Erickson,  1985). From them, I used in this
research the epistemological theory of art and education. Researchers who use this technique must be rigorous,
systematic, and ethical, since research features held in the Humanities are important. Interpretative analysis should
follow the speciＧ�c and general description of the narrative, and must be conducted from the observations made and the
documents analyzed, among other methodological procedures used in the dialogue with the theoretical basis underlying
the research and the researcher's points of view:.
Interpretive research is concerned with the speciＧ�cs of meaning and of action in social life that takes place in
concrete scenes of face-to-face interaction and in the wider society surrounding the scene of action. The
conduct of interpretive research on teaching involves intense and ideally long-term participant observation in
an educational setting, followed by de-liberate and long-term re碝ection on what was seen there. As the
participant observer learns more about the world out there s/he also learns more about him/herself.
(Erickson,  1985, p. 131)
The interpretative research technique is in line with the methodological tools used in this research, as well as places
appropriate to the theoretical assumptions emphasized in this study.
appropriate to the theoretical assumptions emphasized in this study.
With regard to the observation as methodology, Vianna ( 2003) points out that perhaps the greatest advantage of using
this instrument in qualitative research is that the viewer can identify behaviors in the sequence in which they occurred to
be subsequently noted and analyzed. This enables greater depth in the study for the analysis of the collected records:
The observation as a scientiＧ�c technique involves conducting a survey of carefully formulated objectives,
proper planning, systematic recording of data, veriＧ�cation of the validity of the entire course of its process
and the reliability of the results. (Vianna,  2003, p. 14)
Although the observation occurs in the social and cultural context of the people/research subjects, I believe that it is
necessary to have social interaction among the observer, the research locus, and the subjects that will be observed:
Used as the main research method or combined with other collection techniques, observation enables a
personal and close contact with the researcher studied phenomenon, which presents a number of
advantages. First, direct experience is undoubtedly the best veriＧ�cation test of the occurrence of a certain
phenomenon. (Ludke & Andre,  2011, p. 26)
To support the analysis of the collected data, the documentary sources that comprise the legislation, guidelines, and
other o⿁cial documents that regulate art education in Brazilian basic education were the subject of analysis in this
article.
In this thought line, in dialogue with Ludke and Andre ( 2011, p. 39), “as an exploratory technique, document analysis
indicates problems that should be better exploited through other methods. In addition, it can supplement the
information obtained by other collection techniques.”
Theoretical framework
Art education in Brazil became popular in the 1930s and 1940s, through theoretical studies by the English philosopher
Herbert Read and the American philosopher Viktor Lowenfeld, who would investigate art as aesthetic education for all
life and as an object of knowledge, and the development of creative capacity and aesthetics of individuals, respectively.
Both theorists substantiate part of their studies in psychology, especially to investigate and analyze a child's drawing.
According to Osinski ( 2001), Herbert Read believed that education in art could provide a new aesthetic direction
aiming at harmony in a more balanced society.
According to these re碝ections, Osinski ( 2001) makes an important observation: free expression was quite practiced in
schools, raising doubts about their working methods and strengthened the discussions, years later, on the quality of the
art education o퉞ered in schools.
Thistlewood ( 2010) draws a distinction between contemporary art in British education and contemporary art in
Brazilian education: while the Ｇ�rst in the decades from 1950 to 1970 taught art in schools from the non-Ｇ�gurative, due to
the lack of important information about artists and artworks produced in this period, in Brazilian schools artists from
di퉞erent countries arrived in Brazil, in the Ｇ�rst half of the twentieth century, 碝eeing from wars and economic crises,
coinciding, in the 1940s, with Herbert Read's studies on art education in Brazil, mentioned above. Thus, “the beliefs of
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Herbert Read about the importance of contemporary art in education were well received here (Brazilian educators were
probably those who responded with more enthusiasm)” (Thistlewood,  2010, p. 123).
In addition, as Brazilian schools were in碝uenced in this period by these theorists, national artists such as Tarsila do
Amaral began to be in碝uenced by movements such as cubism, among others, brought to the country by foreign artists.
In the same context, for the author, it was not hard to Ｇ�nd in the country works of art by other artists such as Modigliani
and Cezanne.
and Cezanne.
This shows that even with the Brazilian modernism of the 1920s, its peak, the country sought out and socialized
important and historical artists for Brazilian society, as mentioned above. Perhaps, this may have also in碝uenced the
predominance of European artists found quite easily in illustrations in textbooks distributed in Brazilian basic education
schools, and found much more than their own national artists.
By establishing a parallel between art education in Brazil and Canada, Soucy ( 2010) reports that some problems in its
teaching, such as those related to school learning in art, are similar between the two countries, for both students and
teachers conceiving art as self-expression, especially when it is taught to children. Thus, it supports the idea that “every
expression has content, even if it appears to refer primarily to art itself. To express, you should express something” (p.
41).
Soucy ( 2010) explains that the idea of self-expression, still quite common in teaching art in some public schools, is the
result of misinterpretations of art teaching theories. I think this does not seem to be so distant from the Brazilian reality,
at least in the schools researched in the state of Mato Grosso, and the Brazilian scientiＧ�c literature on art education,
because many students and teachers understand art as self-expression of feelings, nothing more than that. They are not
concerned about the content students study and end up o퉞ering drawing exercises only in order to make them
“express” their feelings, without a theoretical orientation and appropriate methodology proposed for this teaching.
In light of this line of reasoning, Barbosa ( 2011) also points out that art in primary and secondary school in Brazil is still
characterized by “spontaneity,” which prevents the creation of copyright imagistic works that have aesthetic quality. For
this author, postmodern methodologies that guided art teaching in the United States in the 1980s or the contemporary
art education in England conceive art as expression and culture, which involves learning to read images. In Brazil, using
the image in art teaching as a study and methodology was only reached at the end of the 1980s, from postmodern art
teaching methods in the country. It is important to note that most studies into art teaching in education in this period
were not yet translated into Portuguese in the country. The great collaboration in the translation of these manuscripts
was because of the pioneering art/education in Brazil, which assisted in the teaching practice of art teachers in Brazilian
public schools.
The art teaching proposal in Brazilian education seeking to build knowledge in art became known as the Triangular
Proposal. Besides being considered by the national scientiＧ�c literature and arts teachers as the main teaching, this trend
in Brazilian schools has become signiＧ�cant for the arts-oriented policies for education. Based on the context of art
reading and making, this proposal was systematized in the late 1980s by the theorist and pioneer in art and education in
Brazil, Ana Mae Barbosa, in the Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo (USP), from 1987 to 1993.
According to Araújo and Oliveira ( 2015), this proposal aims to meet the students' needs and their learning interests
based on respecting values and culture.
However, the role of art education in recent years in Brazil, very rooted in the theory of the Triangular Proposal, is
directly related to the aesthetic and artistic aspects of knowledge (Pillar,  2008). Education in the aesthetics of art not
only teaches students about the life, work, and technical procedures used by the artist, but also builds understanding
and knowledge of art through contextualization, reading, and artmaking.
In this article
Araújo and Oliveira ( 2013) reinforce the idea that this proposal received in碝uences from di퉞erent imaging methods
and readings used in art teaching in recent decades, which could contribute to the reading of the visual work in school,
 
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especially in regards to the teacher's work in this area with students for a variety of visual works, to highlight the issue of
reading and rereading the work of art.
This proposal is signiＧ�cant in the context of arts policy in education, therefore it understands that a curriculum that
meets the real needs of learning and knowledge in art should relate to art (creation/production), analysis, or decoding
(reading images/appreciation) of the work of art and the context or information (art history/context) (Barbosa,  2012).
This is its educational structure. About the systematization of this proposal, in the work “The Image in Art Education,” Ｇ�rst
This is its educational structure. About the systematization of this proposal, in the work “The Image in Art Education,” Ｇ�rst
published in the late 1980s, Barbosa ( 2012) points out:
The Triangular Proposal was not “brought”, but “systematic” from the aesthetic and cultural conditions of post
modernity. “Bring” mean carrying something that already existed. There was no methodological system share-
based (do-read contextualize). … It also does not say that the Triangular Proposal was “created” by me. I prefer
to use the term “systematic”, as was implicit in the postmodern condition.
For this author, the PCNs from 1997 were wrong when they used the Triangular Proposal to regulate teachers with an
extension of their creative actions. In this sense, with regard to the teaching of the Ｇ�rst to the Ｇ�fth year (old Ｇ�rst to fourth
primary school grades), the PCNs recommend action, appreciation, and re碝ection. The last two are di퉞erent in the
Triangular Proposal (decoding of the artwork was replaced by appreciation, and re碝ection can occur both in action and in
the assessment, according to Barbosa,  2012). However, Iavelberg ( 2014, p. 50) states that PCNs were thought, not
as curriculum, but as parameters, “based on the curriculum development of state and municipal departments and
schools that chose to adopt them.”
It is important to remember that the PCNs highlighted for the Ｇ�rst time the four languages—visual arts, theater, dance,
and music—assisting in the development of educational projects and lesson plans of art teachers in Brazilian schools.
From that moment, art came to be regarded as an object of knowledge and not as “activity,” at least in theory. The PCNs
proposed interdisciplinary projects between these artistic languages with other areas of knowledge, with the cross-
cutting issues, while respecting the speciＧ�cities of each, not exercising great versatility, at least in the theoretical
guidelines of these documents.
By making the teaching of art compulsory in Brazilian education, the Guidelines and Bases of National Education LawLDB
n. 9.394/96 proposed a theoretical and methodological renewal of this teaching. Now consistent with studies on visual
culture, these guidelines have become an important pedagogical theory for teaching art in elementary schools in Brazil
in the last 20 years.
The change in the theoretical foundation of art education with LDB n. 9.394/96 and the PCNs also caused modiＧ�cations
in undergraduate courses in arts curricula, directly in碝uencing the formation of teachers. That is, until the early 2000s in
Brazil what was called “Arts Education with Specialization in Plastic Arts” is currently designated Visual Arts; Theatre, in
addition to music and dance.
In defending this proposal, Barbosa ( 2012) links it to the global context and the international scientiＧ�c literature,
emphasizing that it is not an adaptation or copy of U.S. Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE); therefore, the DBAE
discipline components related to art learning (criticism, history, aesthetics, etc.). Meanwhile, the Triangular Proposal,
which emerged in contemporary discourse around art education, provides actions for this learning, such as reading,
practice, and contextualization as curriculum components:
The Triangular Proposal derives from a double triangulation. The Ｇ�rst is epistemological, to designate the
components of the teaching/learning for three actions mentally and sensory basic, such as: creation (artistic
practice), reading of the work of art and contextualization. The second triangulation is the genesis of
systematization itself, originated in a triple in碝uence, swallowing three other epistemological approaches: the
In this article Escuelas al Aire Mexican Libre, the Critical English Studies and the movement of aesthetic appreciation 
coupled with DBAE (Discipline Based Art Education) American. (Barbosa,  1998, pp. 33–34).  
Thus, “any content, any visual and aesthetic nature can be explored, interpreted and operationalized through the
Triangular Proposal” (Barbosa,  1998, p. 38), enabling the teacher to research. This perhaps explains the fact that the
Curricular Proposal in Mato Grosso, locus of this research, with regard to art education, is based on this proposal.
The name “Triangular Proposal” is the most used term in current art education in Brazil, because, according to Barbosa
( 2009), research conducted in recent years was able to identify more terms with this designation than “Approach” and,
( 2009), research conducted in recent years was able to identify more terms with this designation than “Approach” and,
much less, “Methodology.” It then justiＧ�es the fact this research uses the term “Proposal.”
In the early twenty-Ｇ�rst century, art education has been characterized as multicultural education because of the studies
on diversity and visual culture that emerged in recent years (Dalmaso,  2011). This has in碝uenced theoretically and
methodologically the Triangular Proposal, whose central principle states that “cultural education that is intended by the
Triangular Proposal is a critical education knowledge built by the student, with the mediation of the teacher, about the
visual world” (Barbosa,  1998, p. 40).
This proposal, which orients art teaching to visual culture (Coutinho,  2009a) points out that the visual arts teacher
should relate content on this culture in their teaching practices developed within the school culture, therefore:
[T]he issue of Visual Culture is not just to broaden the spectrum of the chosen objects as curriculum content,
as it is often superＧ�cially understood, but goes much further, requires a political and critical position on the
contexts that pervade the visual arts and the subjects. (Coutinho,  2009a, p. 64)
Thus, through a political stance, cultural diversity is related to multiculturalism and multiculturalism terms—both refer to
the existence and understanding of di퉞erent cultures in the same society—and interculturalism—interaction between
di퉞erent cultures (Barbosa,  1998). On cultural diversity, the author states that it “assumes the recognition of di퉞erent
codes, classes, ethnic groups, beliefs and sex in the nation, as well as the dialogue with various cultural codes of the
various nations or countries” (Barbosa,  1998, p. 15).
According to this author, the constructivist conception of teaching and learning emphasized in the 1990s and scored in
the PCNs from 1997 brought changes related to the creation process for the practices in art education, highlighting the
question of originality in the learning process, based on the Triangular Proposal, which considers art as a historical object
partner. Indeed, art is culture and knowledge and, through their areas—visual arts, theater, music, and dance—you can
understand and know the cultural diversity among di퉞erent peoples, because “we can not understand the culture of a
country without knowing his art. Without knowing the arts of a society, we can only have partial knowledge of their
culture” (Barbosa,  1998, p. 16).
Barbosa ( 2008) also discusses some changes in art education in the last 20 years: the art committed to culture and
history, and not just focused on free expression; the emphasis of the Triangular Proposal in educational activities of
teachers; the understanding of art as synonymous with certain people's culture; the expansion of the concept of
creativity, which refers not only to do, but to read and interpret the subject's work of art; the need for visual literacy at
school; the importance of cultural diversity and its plurality; and the attention given to the image of teaching and student
learning process:
The art of teaching is linked to the history of art, education and child. The theories and practices in the
classroom are the result of ideas, political and social context of each season, so teach teachers the history of
art area in school education teaching is important to educate them about the value of memory and the origin
of contemporary curriculum proposals. (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 54)
One should take into account the value of initial and continuing education for the arts teacher. Schools can o퉞er this
through training, not excluding, of course, the role of universities in this process. Discussing and researching art is a way
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for teachers to exchange experiences and to learn and appreciate art in society, and consequently in education, which
will then inform their teaching in the classroom. “What you want is that all students in Brazilian schools can learn, know-
how and experience art. It is with this thinking that we propose to those working to improve the quality of education and
the lives of students, teachers and society” (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 55).
According to Iavelberg ( 2016), following the publication of the PCNs for Basic Education of 2013, with emphasis on
three stages/levels of education: Early Childhood Education: (from 0 to 3 years and 11 months old), and preschool (4 and
three stages/levels of education: Early Childhood Education: (from 0 to 3 years and 11 months old), and preschool (4 and
5 years) Elementary School, from Ｇ�rst to ninth year and High School (lasting for 3 years), the curriculum of basic
education schools has undergone other changes regarding the curriculum content, and the guidelines for a curriculum
common ground:
The initial training in pedagogy courses, bachelor's and degree in art should prepare teachers in theoretical
and practical courses to learn to teach, however, is faced with the fact that the opportunity for internships is
less than is required to scale number of teachers in initial training, and the stage is fundamental to the
relationship between theory and practice, since it is learned, among other things, on the theory in action in art
classroom observing teaching quality actions. (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 53)
In this sense, Iavelberg ( 2016) makes an important observation: initial training for arts teachers in basic education
begins in teaching courses in the Medium Level of Teaching, in degrees in arts (visual arts, theater, music, and dance),
and Superior Normal Institutes. However, it says that after 5 years of the PCNs creation PCNs-only graduates in one of
these arts areas may teach art classes in Brazilian basic education schools.
According to Nóvoa ( 2012), teacher-training courses cannot be unaware of or ignore the reality of schools, especially
in relation to primary and secondary education, therefore it is important to strengthen practices based on a
development perspective and quality that are critical to the teaching work. Thus, the author advocates the importance of
research in teacher education.
According to Candau ( 2014), teaching was considered for a long time, in Brazil, as a valued profession, with prestige
and humanizing potential, dealing with citizenship. This appreciation was not accompanied by improving working
conditions and teachers' salaries, however. Today, Candau points out, the profession is viewed negatively, with
increasing unease among teachers due to stress, anxiety, and insecurity lived day-by-day.
Saviani ( 2009) points out that the issue of teacher education cannot be separated from the debate on teachers'
working conditions, therefore it is necessary to discuss new ways and strategies for teaching work with higher quality
and well-being.
By targeting the look of the analyses made in some of the o⿁cial documents on art teaching in Brazil, on the principles
and purpose of national education, the LDB N. 9.394/96, speciＧ�cally Art. 3, says that education will be taught based on,
among other principles, the freedom to learn, teach, research, and disseminate culture, beyond thought, art, and
knowledge. Art. 26 cites the requirement of art in basic education, but without making it clear whether this requirement
will occur every year or series and what artistic language should be taught, but only highlights the obligatory music from
Law N. 11,769 of 2008. With regard to high school, Art. 36 points out that the curriculum must emphasize the
understanding of the meaning of science, literature, and the arts as a means of communication and access to knowledge
and the exercise of citizenship.
However, Silva and Buján ( 2016) clarify that di퉞erent modiＧ�cations were inserted in the text of the LDB. 9.394/96 in
the past decade; among these, some turned to art teaching in basic education schools, for example, the obligatory music
from the Law n. 11,769 2008, compulsory education of indigenous and African-Brazilian culture, and, more recently, the
mandatory teaching of visual arts, theater, and dance in the school curriculum, from the Law. N. 13,278/16, in addition to
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music.
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PCNsfor basic education cite Law N. 9.394/96 on mandatory art education in schools, especially content that
underscores the culture, so that students can expand their cultural knowledge. It also highlights the obligation of music
in basic education. With regard to secondary education, student educational activities should foster an understanding of
the meaning of science, literature, and the arts. In addition, PCNs estimated for the art discipline a curriculum with two
weekly classes of 50 minutes. However, this practice does not occur in all basic education schools. Furthermore, it was a
noted aspect of the schools researched for this study. Each class series had at most an art class lasting 1 hour per week.
noted aspect of the schools researched for this study. Each class series had at most an art class lasting 1 hour per week.
According to Lemos ( 2015), another education policy for teaching art that brings signiＧ�cant challenges to schools is the
PNE (2014–2024) established by Law N. 13,005/2014.This statementfocuses on expanding the culture of access for
students. Also according to this theory, even with its obligation in basic education, you can still Ｇ�nd in some practices this
discipline with a multipurpose character. As regards the PNE, one of the strategies of Goal 7, which refers to the
Ｇ�nancing of quality in basic education, pronounces:
Ensure all public schools of basic education access to electricity, clean water supply, sanitation and solid waste
management, ensure student access to spaces for sports, cultural and artistic goods and equipment and
laboratories science and in each school building, ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities. (Chamber
of Deputies of Brazil,  2014, p. 64)
That is, the student must be ensured access to cultural and artistic assets. However, it is not often seen in schools that
basic education students have access to cultural and artistic spaces such as art museums and art exhibitions. Di퉞erent
reasons explain this: the lack of being aware of such places in the city, or even a lack of initiative by schools and teachers
to present to students, during art lessons and Ｇ�eld research, the importance of these places to expand their cultural and
artistic knowledge, and promote critical debate with the social and historical events of humanity. For Rossi ( 2014)
Brazilian culture is respected and internationally known; however, not all people have access to high culture.
In this sense, students know the culture of other people only in the textbook's content. Attending and having continuous
access to museums and other cultural goods helps students develop their aesthetic experience and have a more critical
interpretation of reality. However, it is important to a proper mediation of the teacher for this process to occur properly,
and that the school and parents can motivate and arouse students' interest to attend these places.
In Mato Grosso, according to Goal 2—to assess the quality of education in 100% of teaching units of the State System of
Education 2015—the State Education Plan (PEE/MT), the art discipline supply, in the early years of elementary school,
should be expanded and deployed in 20% of schools per year, ensuring professionals with speciＧ�c expertise in the area.
However, this statement arouses some suspicion; how can one ensure a speciＧ�c qualiＧ�cation in art—visual arts, theater,
dance, and music—in Mato Grosso with only one undergraduate degree at a higher level in the arts—music—to train
and qualify this professional to act as a teacher in the school system? It is a pertinent question and problem that involves
versatility in the arts and the precariousness of teacher education in the Brazilian educational context.
In making a parallel with another context, from a study conducted between 2011 and 2013 in order to establish a
diagnosis on the training of arts teachers in Brazil and Argentina, Silva and Buján ( 2016) point out that in the Argentine
case, most of the teacher education in the arts is not concentrated at the university. However, in Brazil, both initial and
continuing education for the arts teacher can be found not only in universities but also in art museums, through courses
and art history workshops, educational activities projects, lectures among other means involving not only the general
public and the community, but teachers, students, and schools.
According to the school census of 2013, which shows the teachers' proＧ�le in Brazil acting in high school, the data show
the need to hire approximately 17,000 art teachers to work in this area in the country, but with a reduced workload of
only two weekly classes of 50 minutes each, which in fact, is little to a discipline that has extensive theoretical load and
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practice and that needs to include visual arts, theater, dance, and music. Another important result of this that the same
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census shows is that the high school art teacher teaches other disciplines, not just art, which makes clear the need to 
seek more classes because the workload of that discipline is reduced in the school curriculum so that the teachers can
supplement their salary. Of course, the fact of looking for other disciplines to complement the workload can stress again
the issue of multi-skilling in education, what is very common in this discipline in Brazilian schools, according to the
theoretical analysis.
CNE/CEB N. 22/2005 punctuates that the name of the Ｇ�eld of knowledge “Arts Education” became known as “Art,”
emphasizing the full training in one of four languages: visual arts, theater, music, and dance. However, you can still Ｇ�nd
emphasizing the full training in one of four languages: visual arts, theater, music, and dance. However, you can still Ｇ�nd
in some bids for tenders for art teachers in Brazil the old nomenclature—Arts Education—highlighting the still existing
bad interpretation of this area in Brazil.
However, a historical and important event took place in Brazil in May 2016 and directly involves initial and continuing
education for the Ｇ�eld of arts in education: the approval of Law n. 13,278/16, incorporating visual arts, theater, and
dance into the curriculum of basic education schools; besides music, these languages are now an obligatory part of the
school curriculum. However, Brazilian elementary and high schools, public and private, will have up to Ｇ�ve years to
conform to this Act, to deploy visual arts classes, theater, music, and dance in the kindergarten curriculum and high
school education. The question is, whether or not new undergraduate courses are actually created in these areas, will
there be teachers qualiＧ�ed in each of these areas to work in schools?. During this time of adaptation, will these four
languages be subjects? This was not clear from the analysis in this Federal Law. However, it is important to note that the
best option would be to create these areas as subjects, so that each teacher enabled it to fully develop their work with
the methodological characteristics that each area requires avoiding versatility. It should be emphasized in this context
that currently there is a underway in Brazil to discuss a new educational policy called National Common Base Curriculum
(BNCC), which refers to new proposals from the PCNs of 2013. For Iavelberg ( 2016), in the arts, even if there are
documents as those aiming to promote the Ｇ�eld of arts in the curriculum of schools, there are still many obstacles on the
e퉞ectiveness of contemporary proposals of art and education in Brazilian schools. Thus, the BNCC points out that after
the formation of arts teachers in their respective languages—visual arts, theater, music, and dance—a step forward is
needed in these educational policies, speciＧ�cally when dealing with the art discipline in schools.
Findings
During the art classes observed in the Ｇ�eld of research, I found that the same was taught in most schools researched by
teachers without qualiＧ�cation in the arts. Some of these alleged teachers taught art classes to complement the workload
at school and they were not trained in the arts to teach this discipline. This Ｇ�nding points to two important recurrent
problems in public education: the teacher's negligence not being trained in the arts to teaching a curricular subject
without being graduated in this area, which gives the student a mistaken learning of important content to their training,
constituting a learning deＧ�cit in the construction of knowledge; and the lack of initial training courses—higher education
—in the arts in the state of Mato Grosso.
At other times, some arts content taught by teachers of this discipline such as art history, di퉞erent artistic technical
procedures, among others, were insu⿁cient for the student's learning, therefore, the discussions in the classroom were
superＧ�cial without theoretical resources, appropriate materials and methodologies, as well as the hours of that
discipline being greatly reduced in comparison to the other ones of the school curriculum. In some schools, there was
also a lack of arts materials for practical classes, which is worrying.
Most of the classes observed in elementary and high school, more than half of the teachers proposed classes based only
on drawing—free expression—without theoretical support and appropriate methodology. As much as the design
language is still dominant in this discipline today, you must be careful with generalizations and how it is taught to
students,
In this articlebecause art is not only design and cannot be conceived always as such by teachers and students. Instead, the
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art course covers cultural and methodological aspects of di퉞erent artistic events in human history, important and
fundamental to the process of teaching and learning, by enabling students to know and learn—in theory and in practice
—di퉞erent artistic languages and understand how it developed the culture of your country and other nations, expanding
its aesthetic experience. Nevertheless, it is necessary that the teacher be an important mediator in the knowledge
construction process on the student.
This evidence goes against what Barbosa ( 2011), Osinski ( 2001), and Soucy ( 2010), state: free expression, as well
as being widespread in Brazilian schools in the Ｇ�rst half of the twentieth century and still found in some arts practices
as being widespread in Brazilian schools in the Ｇ�rst half of the twentieth century and still found in some arts practices
currently in education, caused methodological problems for teaching and learning in the arts, because this context did
not consider the content to be taught, nor did it enable students to exercise their creativity and authorship on the work
produced.
Art classes should cover theoretical content and not only practical. As regards the practical classes, it is important to
emphasize not only the traditional paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures, but also other more contemporary
languages such as Ｇ�lm, gra⿁ti, and installation, among many others, but it is necessary that the teacher of this discipline
be enabled in the arts. That is, when teaching theater content to students, the teacher must have a degree in theater; if
he or she teaches painting content, design, he or she must be graduated from a visual arts program, and so on. It is
necessary that the workload of the discipline in the curriculum of basic education in Brazilian schools be larger, contrary
to what occurs in educational legislation, so that the teacher can socialize and work fully in the arts content to students
during school time of these students.
By developing a critical eye from this contact and knowledge with di퉞erent artistic manifestations and their technical
procedures, students can expand their knowledge of the world, which can be complemented by access to and art
museums and art exhibitions. However, it is necessary that the school o퉞ers adequate space for art classes and practices
that have art materials available and in good condition for students to be able to carry out the artwork produced in this
discipline. It is also important that the teacher knows how to handle the materials so he or she can teach and properly
mediate the students during the creation process.
In this thought, Coutinho ( 2009b) argues for the importance of museums and places for learning and production of
knowledge in the arts, to enable students to experience di퉞erent artistic manifestations in their genuine forms. Thus, he
states that “it is urgent in our Brazilian context re碝ect on the educational activities whose purpose favor approaches to
art and culture, especially those that have been set apart this knowledge” (p. 3740).
According to the school census of 2013, 21.3% of teachers who teach art in regular secondary education in Brazilian
schools have speciＧ�c training in one of the four areas: visual arts, theater, music, or dance. From the professionals who
teach art, only 43.5% have speciＧ�c training. However, for teachers who work with other disciplines, as well as art, the
percentage of graduates in this area is 8.4%. In addition to this re碝ection on teacher training in the arts, Iavelberg
( 2016) says:
It is known that the learning of students in Arts in Primary Education schools is not yet realized in its entirety.
It has been a long road ahead and it is expected that the National Base Curriculum Common in progress,
mobilize discussions about art in school education, promoting the formation of public teachers and political
recovery of the area and teaching, working on improving the school and the quality of life of the community of
educators, students and their families, for the everyday context of these protagonists interferes greatly in
student learning. Documents and laws alone will not achieve the improvement of education in an area of
knowledge. The complexity of the educational system requires vigorous policy reorientation for education in
all areas, including art, can be e퉞ective with equity for all students. (p. 87)
In the state of Mato Grosso, the fact that there are many teachers with degrees in other Ｇ�elds who teach the art
discipline due to the lack of professional teachers trained or skilled in this area proved to be a recurring problem. In the
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years 2014 and 2015 during my study, this geographically large state in the Midwest region of Brazil had only one
undergraduate
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Mato Grosso, campus of Cuiabá. Even these music graduates, it seems to me, do not develop an interest in teaching,
because there is a large deＧ�cit in this Ｇ�eld not only in Cuiaba, but throughout Mato Grosso.
As a result, there is insu⿁cient teacher training for art teachers in basic education, not meeting the educational demands
of training teacher quality, especially for cities distant from the capital that do not have these training courses. On this
of training teacher quality, especially for cities distant from the capital that do not have these training courses. On this
issue, it is important to highlight:
The lack of art teachers is a problem facing the obligatory knowledge area from the LDB 9.394/96. In addition,
there is the determination of the teaching load, which causes many schools plan each class with 50 or
45 minutes to art, usually with one class per week. (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 54)
So, I think it is important that the gap be Ｇ�lled as soon as possible, so that there is real change in this scenario. There is a
clear need for new initial and continuing education courses in the arts Ｇ�eld—visual arts, theater, music, and dance—in
Mato Grosso, both to contribute to the qualiＧ�cation of these professionals and to contribute to the improvement of this
teaching o퉞ered in schools and consequently to a quality public education:
What is needed is to create concrete conditions for a new type of initial training, higher education, for
teaching in basic education. There is a need to improve the structure, qualify and evaluate the work done in
degrees, the initial training of teachers for basic education. (Gatti,  2014, pp. 42–43)
Among other research, Santos Filho ( 2014) points out the lack of arts courses to train teachers for this discipline to act
on basic education in the state of Pará, which reinforces the view that the gap in the training of these professionals in
Brazil a퉞ects other contexts. In this re碝ection, the author argues that the “ignorance” of art and local culture by the
teacher of this discipline may occur due to the lack of initial and continuing education courses in the arts, which can
enable the teacher, and to qualify, expand their cultural knowledge and socialize it with their students.
By making a parallel between teacher education in the arts in Brazil and other countries, Iavelberg ( 2016) highlights:
A current component of initial and continuing training for art education in many countries and in Brazil is to
consider the history of pedagogical trends of education in the area of school education. In the country and
abroad, it is valued knowledge of art education history in the training of art educators. (pp. 83–84)
It is important to emphasize that the lack of these courses, in general, may be related, among other factors, to the lack of
interest of prospective teachers enrolled in undergraduate courses for the teaching profession, an a⿁rmation also
supported by scholars like Gatti, Barreto, and Andre ( 2011) because such courses have increasingly low attractiveness
in the country due to the o퉞ered decadent wages and poor working conditions, which ends up putting this profession at
a disadvantage with other labor markets that have more “attractive” wages.
Even with numerous teacher training courses in di퉞erent areas proposed by the Ministry of Education (MEC) in recent
years, it is possible to see that this initiative cannot be achieved in practice all states of the federation, as in Mato Grosso.
Perhaps an alternative that could help to alleviate this problem of lack of graduate and continuing education courses
would be having arts courses o퉞ered by the Open University of Brazil (UAB), established by Decree N. 5,800 of 2006,
providing then a training at a higher and continued level for basic education teachers, among others, through the
methodology of education at a distance. As Mato Grosso is a reference in Brazil in relation to UAB, this might be a useful
and interesting idea. However, this does not exclude the importance of classroom courses for initial and continuing
teacher education.
As much as the preparation of teachers in Brazil began for the Ｇ�rst time only in 1827 (Saviani,  2009), it still shows the
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problematic training for the arts teacher today. In this sense, I share the thoughts of Nóvoa ( 2012) by stating that “it is
essential to strengthen devices and teacher training practices
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activities and school work” (p. 12). In other words, it is necessary to expand and produce more research to address the
problems of teacher education and professional education and the existing ills in this Ｇ�eld, which could be solved or
ameliorated. In the speciＧ�c case of teaching art, Iavelberg ( 2016) again stands:
The current scenario training Art teachers is di⿁cult and complex and urgent to be improved because it
shows us that, in addition to the qualitative aspects of training, quantitative can not be underestimated when
shows us that, in addition to the qualitative aspects of training, quantitative can not be underestimated when
considering a national plan for the promotion of education in area. (p. 87)
According to Feldmann ( 2008) the continuous training of teachers cannot refer to a knowledge accumulation, but is
related to personal and professional development of a thinking being, which aims to build and socialize knowledge in the
school culture.
In light of these re碝ections, Candau ( 2014) states that there has never been in Brazil many scientiＧ�c events with
various themes on initial and continuing teacher training, as they have been happening in recent years. In this sense,
“teachers are in evidence and at the center of controversies about the current problems in Brazilian education” (Candau,
 2014, p. 34). In this sense, Iavelberg also contributes in this re碝ection by stating:
Also, today is required more training of art teacher because he must know the history of art in a non-
hegemonic cut, having to create experiences in the languages with which it will work and know the genesis of
children's art and Youth for observe learning, focus of contemporary guidelines, linking this knowledge to PPP
(Political Pedagogical Project) school. (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 53)
On teacher training in graduate school in the arts, Rossi ( 2014) calls attention to the fact that the southern region of
the country is one of the most productive in the formation of visual arts teachers in master's and doctoral courses, losing
only to the southeast. However, at the national level, he highlights the relevant scientiＧ�c events in the Ｇ�eld of the arts,
that question and discuss di퉞erent teaching themes in this area and languages of visual arts, dance, theater, and music,
especially the Federation Congress Art/Educators of Brazil (CONFAEB), the National Association of Researchers in Fine
Arts (ANPAP), and the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Education (ANPED).
Through contact and experience with the di퉞erent artistic languages found in the arts, students can Ｇ�nd an important
motivation to explore and express their world of knowledge, producing signiＧ�cant readings and interpretations of reality
through di퉞erent artistic and technical procedures (Araújo & Oliveira,  2015). It is through art that one can understand
and know the cultural diversity among di퉞erent peoples, emphasized in the PNE (2014–2024) in Brazil, and defended by
the author Ana Mae Barbosa ( 1998): “We can not understand the culture of a country without knowing its art. Without
knowing the arts of a society, we can only have partial knowledge of its culture” (p. 16).
Brazil is a country that stands out among the other nations that present a rich cultural and artistic diversity. Taking this
into account, art students can know and understand the Brazilian culture and other nations' culture. In the state of Mato
Grosso this diversity is quite evident in the cultural and artistic events, such as paintings, sculptures, historical
architectures, dances, and regional music, among others that can be easily found in di퉞erent regions of the state.
Through the re碝ection, through the doing and reading in art, the students may Ｇ�nd greater motivation to express their
knowledge and readings of the world, and understand the social and historical process that comprises, once art is a
knowledge that produces knowledge by a manifestation of creativity and human expression that, somehow, is present in
their lives.
It is impossible to get students to see and learn all art content during the school year, with only one class per week. The
arts area is rich in languages and features extensive content on di퉞erent languages, and depriving the student access to
them is a way to “marginalize” the discipline in the school curriculum, damaging the teaching and learning of these
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people.
We must address key contents on the art teaching in their areas—visual arts, theater, music, and dance—and teachers
need to be qualiＧ�ed in these languages to develop pedagogical practices that can e퉞ectively contribute to the teaching
and student learning process, concerning the opportunity to know and experience the di퉞erent artistic manifestations,
increasing its aesthetic experience and building new knowledge; therefore, the educational legislation both in the state
of Mato Grosso and in Brazil, on this subject, is not bad, but what has been done in practice is teaching this discipline
with views far from the current reality, causing some misunderstandings in basic education:
with views far from the current reality, causing some misunderstandings in basic education:
Since LDBEN 9.394/96 and its understanding by teachers in classrooms, we still have a distance in most
schools, which dismantles the theoretical guidelines of what is put into practice at the expense of learning
expectations, ie what could really be learned in schools … changes need to be assimilated, and so never
su⿁ced to laws and o⿁cial documents, for the training of teachers, it is necessary to link the political and
social mobilization to carry out the demands of a school It aims to promote equity and professional
participation, cultural and social development of its educational agents. (Iavelberg,  2014, p. 53)
It is right to say, therefore, that in the public schools in the state of Mato Grosso there is a mismatch between the
guidelines and the laws on teaching art in elementary schools and what is really taught and done in these schools; that
is, there is a disarticulation of the theoretical plans present in these documents to what is put into practice in the arts
class. This can contribute to the art discipline being taught and designed with the stereotype of secondary activity,
extolling it as derogatory discipline in the Brazilian school curriculum.
From this perspective, Iavelberg ( 2014) corroborates the thesis initially placed in this research, when referring to the
discrepancy between theoretical and practical bases in arts developed in the classroom in the researched schools and
analyzes the scientiＧ�c literature on this topic:
This distance between the production of knowledge in the art area and practice in the classroom can be
decreased with the improvement of the profession of teachers and infrastructure of schools associated with
projects of initial and continuing education. (p. 53)
Consequently, he stresses that it is necessary to update these documents as there are many teachers who still use them,
and also that there is a better understanding by the teacher and the school about these theoretical bases, so that they
are used and properly interpreted, in theory and practice.
Policies for initial and continuing teacher training should take into account discussions of their training and issues
related to their working conditions, as more decent wages, a stronger teaching career, among others—quite relevant in
the Brazilian context—in addition to instructional and learning materials appropriate to work with this discipline in the
classroom. But for this to occur, it is important and necessary “to establish public policies that ensure the active
participation of teachers in the various instances of decisions of the educational process, considering the need and the
right to continuing education” (Feldmann,  2008, p. 178), and to produce more research on teaching public policies in
Brazil in graduate school (André,  2013).
An important note should also be made: public policies for art education in Brazil, especially those related to production
and distribution of textbooks for public schools of Ｇ�rst and second degrees, distributed for the Ｇ�rst time teaching arts
books for these schools from the year 2014 through the National Didactic Textbook Program (PNLD). Before, there was
no teaching of arts books for schools. This shows a delay in the policies for the arts in basic education in the country.
As to the challenges listed for the art discipline in Brazilian education, understand that they are not recent. Rather, they
are all entered in the history of this discipline in Brazilian education. Therefore, it is pertinent to discuss this theme in
research in art and international education, so that it can expand and produce knowledge in this Ｇ�eld, in dialogue with
other researchers.
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Conclusion
The current o⿁cial documents of art education in the state of Mato Grosso and Brazil conceive art discipline as a way of
knowledge and compulsory in school, but without making it clear it must occur in all grades or years of basic education.
SpeciＧ�cally in Mato Grosso, there is a gap between the theoretical guidelines of these documents on the arts and with
what is taught and done in this discipline's class in public schools; that is, such conceptions of this discipline present in
what is taught and done in this discipline's class in public schools; that is, such conceptions of this discipline present in
these documents are not in line with the practices of this discipline in the researched elementary schools, a fact that can
contribute to the idea that art is wrongly understood in education nowadays as “subsidiary to know.” It is important to
note that this Ｇ�nding from the empirical research meets with what the Brazilian scientiＧ�c literature on art and education
has a⿁rmed in recent years: the distance between the theoretical guidelines and what is done in practice in basic
education. Therefore, it is not a general statement, but, based on empirical and theoretical research from the last of
which were analyzed in the present study.
The art discipline is taught in almost every grade or year in schools in Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso. However, there is
only one undergraduate degree at a higher level in the arts throughout the state, which leads to public schools having a
great shortage of fully qualiＧ�ed professionals in the arts to work in teaching in elementary schools, and insu⿁cient
continuing education courses in this area. Therefore, it is essential and imperative to have more graduate and continuing
education in the arts in this important state of the federation.
Having contact with artistic languages enables students to construct knowledge, broaden their cultural and aesthetic
experience, and produce meaningful interpretations and criticism of reality through artmaking and contact with di퉞erent
languages of art. Art is an autonomous area of knowledge to be understood.
Indeed, art plays an important role in education to produce new ideas and knowledge. At school, the art discipline is an
important curricular space for cultural, aesthetic, critical, and creative fomentation of the student. It produces signiＧ�cant
cultural knowledge when working with interdisciplinarity.
According to the di퉞erent methodologies and concepts aimed at teaching art and discussed throughout the history of
education in Brazil, from the theoretical analysis performed in this study, it can be stated that the main pedagogical
trend in the teaching of art in Brazilian schools is the Triangular Proposal, but this proposal was not identiＧ�ed in
pedagogical practices carried out in the art discipline by teachers in the schools researched.


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12/01/2017 The arts in Brazilian public schools: Analysis of an art education experience in Mato Grosso State, Brazil: Arts Education Policy Review: Vol 0, No 0

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Arts Education Policy Review 

The arts in Brazilian public schools: Analysis of an art

 Download citation  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2016.1245164  Crossmark

KEYWORDS: Art education, Brazilian education, education legislation, Mato Grosso State, teacher training

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