DIGITAL PLATFORMS, TEACHER AUTONOMY, AND CRITICAL EDUCATION: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Abstract

This article aims to critically analyze the platformization of education and its impacts on the curriculum, teacher autonomy, pedagogical work, learning, and the management of public education. This is a qualitative study developed through a narrative literature review based on books, scientific articles, normative documents, institutional materials, and studies related to digital technologies, educational neoliberalism, digital inclusion, and the critical education of students. The literature analysis showed that the platformization of education goes beyond the mere adoption of technological tools, as it directly affects the organization of pedagogical practices, school management, and performance monitoring processes. The results indicated that, although digital platforms may broaden access to information, diversify teaching strategies, and facilitate administrative activities, their use based on standardized content, performance metrics, and monitoring mechanisms may reduce teacher autonomy, intensify control over teachers and students, and encourage the incorporation of business-oriented logics into public education. Risks related to technological dependence, the collection of personal data, and the subordination of pedagogical purposes to the interests of private companies were also identified. It is concluded that digital inclusion should be ensured as a right, but it must remain subordinate to pedagogical, democratic, and humanizing principles. Therefore, technologies should function as supporting tools for teaching practice, preserving the teacher as the central mediator of the teaching and learning process. Future studies are recommended to empirically investigate the effects of platforms on teaching work, learning, and the protection of educational data.