Curriculum policies for High School in southern Brazil: analytical possibilities regarding school knowledge

Abstract This paper examines the curriculum policies for High School implemented in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, over the last decade. Situated in the context of Curriculum Studies, the paper analytically prioritizes political rationalities operating in the processes of selecting the knowledge to be taught in schools. Through an analysis of curriculum texts, anchored in a social realist perspective, the article indicates that the policies implemented in that context are engendered from the interface between the assumptions of the manufacturing of curriculum standards and the establishment of a community of learners.