Entre O Apoio E O Rótulo

This article analyzes the paradoxes of school inclusion through educational support practices in the daily life of a private basic education school. Grounded in a sociological and ethnographic perspective, the article problematizes educational support as a non-neutral device that, while fostering school permanence, may also produce classifications, symbolic hierarchies, and forms of exposure of difference. The analysis is based on ethnographic scenes concerning the trajectories of three students at different stages of schooling. By following these experiences, the article highlights distinct modes of visibility, identity management, and institutional responses to difference, as well as the role of everyday interactions and the discourses of families and professionals. In the transversal discussion, the cases are articulated with contributions from the sociology of education and the sociology of deviance, allowing inclusion to be understood as a relational and ambiguous process. The article argues that inclusion and stigmatization are not opposing processes, but frequently coexist within school practices, challenging normative conceptions of equity.