Reflections on the limits and possibilities of democratic management in High Schools in a City in Ceará

This paper discusses Education Management in the context of Public Policies. The objective is to understand the limits and possibilities of a Democratic Management in High Schools in a municipality of the State of Ceará. The qualitative research used the methodological strategy of multiple case study, collecting data through document analysis and interviews with members of the core management of two high schools. The results indicated that democratic management is made possible by means of similar mechanisms between the schools, but obtains different results due to educational conditions, related to workload, curricular components, and physical facilities. It was possible to discuss the potential of democratic management and the actions that favor collectivity, while there are limits, such as bureaucratic obstacles, considered challenging for collective decision-making.