The stamp of consensus: a political-epistemological analysis of SARESP in Folha de S. Paulo and Jornal da APEOESP.

Abstract

The research aims to analyze the articles published by Folha de S. Paulo (commercial newspaper) and Jornal da APEOESP (union newspaper). It is an interdisciplinary study that seeks contributions on communication theories, philosophy and education to describe the relationship between journalistic practices and the regulatory processes of the educational system. For this, will be used concepts of Michel Foucault (from archeology and genealogy of power) to understand how news is constructed by mass media industry. The theoretical elements of communication are used as a basis for understanding the relationship between journalism and governmentality. Thus, we seek to describe some aspects of regulation of the population through regimes of truth. We discuss the hypothesis that knowledge lead the actions of individuals and result in a kind of consensus. To understand this process, taking as reference the questioning indicated by Michel Foucault on the consent. We confront the concept Marxist/Gramscian consensus with the notion of subjection, derived from Foucault's theory. Thus, we discuss the process of constitution of discourses that support political reform and the articulation of the newspapers in the midst of these power relations. The press part of the circulation of discourses related to certain regimes of truth. This creates an "impression" of consensus and leads to interdiction of other discourses. The research hypothesis is that the commercial journalism and union journalism participating in the network of relationships and strategies to move the power, a situation that brings them together despite their differences. The focus of analysis is the press coverage of SARESP, (System School Performance Assessment of the State of São Paulo) during the period 1995 to 2010, ie the first four terms of the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democratic Party) in state government. The focus of analysis is the coverage of SARESP, a large-scale evaluation applied in the public schools of São Paulo, which aims to measure school performance. The study period is between 1995 and 2010, when the state government introduced several policies managerialist slant. We understand that SARESP was an instrument of inducing political reform, and so it is important to study the speeches that made possible the implementation of managerialism, including a broader context. From this, we make an analysis of speeches conveyed in the two papers mentioned, to understand their relationship with the implementation and maintenance of educational reform in São Paulo.