Towards a definition of justice in education

• Autor(a) principal: Waltenberg, Fábio
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Cadernos Cenpec (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://cadernos.cenpec.org.br/cadernos/index.php/cadernos/article/view/203
• topic: Education. Justice. Equality.; Justice in education. Welfare economics. Functionnings and capabilities. Equality of opportunity. Ideb.; Educação. Justiça. Igualdade de Oportunidades.; Justiça em educação. Economia do bem-estar. Funcionamentos e capacidades. Igualdade de oportunidades. Ideb.

If an individual’s education level provides socioeconomic advantages (or disadvantages), and if it is possible to reallocate resources in such a way as to alter the distribution of education in a given population, then it is necessary to devise criteria to evaluate how just are different distributions of education and to define how resources could be assigned in order to conduct to a as-just-as-possible distribution. This paper attempts at systematizing the task of defining justice in education. As for theoretical frameworks to undertake normative analyses, refinements to standard welfare economics are emphasized, especially those offered by the theories of functionings and capabilities, and equality of opportunities. Practical implications for the Brazilian context are discussed, and open questions are unveiled. We argue that reflecting about justice in education is an important task, with plenty of consequences, but also an elusive endeavor.