Competition, digital platforms, and the working conditions of teachers in the Mato Grosso state public education system, as perceived by teachers.
Digital platforms. Privatization of education. Teaching work. Educational policies.
This research aims to analyze the perception of teachers in the Mato Grosso state public education system regarding the impact of digital platforms and mandatory online courses on their teaching work, starting in 2014. It unfolds into three specific objectives: 1. To analyze the introduction of digital platforms in the Mato Grosso public education system, 2. To profile the professionals participating in the research; 3. To identify and analyze the consequences of the platforms for continuing education and the working conditions of teachers. Two questions were raised for the research: What indicators comprise teaching work and to what extent are they affected by the use of the Plurall Platform? What are the consequences of privatization through the Plurall digital platform and the online courses imposed by the Mato Grosso State Department of Education on the organization of teaching work? This is a quantitative-qualitative study, of a documentary, bibliographic, and empirical nature, which investigates the privatization process of education and the intensification of the use of digital platforms, especially Plurall and AVADEP, in the context of neoliberal policies implemented in the state since 2014. The method involved the collection and analysis of academic productions, legislation, public contracts, and, mainly, the application of an online questionnaire to teachers in the state network, whose 300 responses were organized and processed through content analysis. The results indicate that the adoption of digital platforms, while presented as an innovation, has brought ambiguous consequences: Some teachers acknowledge progress in terms of access to digital resources and the facilitation of assessment processes, but most point to the intensification of workload, fragmentation of tasks, administrative overload, loss of pedagogical autonomy, and increased individual control and accountability for results. The mandatory use of platforms and the performance-based bonus policy reinforced the meritocratic and accountability logic, transferring responsibility for student performance on tests and the improvement of educational indicators to the teacher, often disregarding the real working conditions and the structural inequalities that determine intra- and extra-school factors. Symptoms of exhaustion, stress, insomnia, and illness have become recurrent, aggravated by the pressure for results and the lack of institutional recognition. Continuing education mediated by digital platforms was perceived as fragmented, superficial, and of little relevance to the Professional development is seen more as a technocratic requirement than as a space for collective improvement. Despite the challenges, many teachers seek resistance strategies, adapting practices, resorting to external resources, and demanding greater participation in pedagogical and technological decisions. It is concluded that the platformization of education, in the context of privatization and neoliberal reforms, has intensified the precariousness of teaching work, requiring public policies that value the autonomy, health, and participation of teachers in educational policy decisions and in the organization of collective school work, promoting a critical, democratic, and emancipatory digital education.