Technology and control of teaching work in the state education network of Paraná

Abstract

This article presents partial results of an ongoing research project investigating the process of controlling teachers’ work through educational technologies implemented by the State Department of Education of Paraná, Brazil. Grounded in the theoretical framework of historical-dialectical materialism, the study is based on the understanding of labor as a foundational category of human existence and education as a historically constituted social practice. It analyzes how teaching, as a manifestation of human vital activity, has been increasingly subordinated to logics of standardization, measurement, and control, especially through technology. This is a bibliographic and documentary study that draws on institutional guidelines, official documents from government portals – particularly those of the State Department of Education – and academic literature related to the topic. The analysis focuses on the public education system of Paraná, specifically policies targeting primary and secondary school teachers. The findings indicate that although educational technologies have potential to enhance teaching and learning processes, they have been appropriated under a managerial logic that undermines teacher autonomy. Digital platforms, integrated into the Escola Total system, have begun to measure pedagogical resource usage and link it to professional performance, consolidating a form of control over teachers’ labor. The study concludes that technological advancement, rather than fostering emancipation, has been instrumentalized to deepen the subordination of labor to capital, demanding a critical reflection on the direction of public education.