Trabalho docente em um contexto de precarização: o caso do Rio Grande do Norte

Neoliberal reforms and the adoption of a managerial, technicist model in education have contributed to the precarization of teaching work. Rio Grande do Norte (RN) is included in the general national and global context, but it has specific characteristics that fostered this research, aiming to analyze the conditions of teaching work in the state. Using a qualitative, exploratory approach, the research draws on document analysis, secondary data, participant observation, and a questionnaire. Findings indicate that the state prioritizes the hiring of temporary substitutes while circumventing labor rights. Schools face chronic shortages of resources and staff, alongside an accumulation of duties. Local particularities include months-long delays in the payment of salaries, thirteenth-month bonuses, and vacation pay, as well as a lack of administrative personnel and a weakened teachers’ union movement. These conditions have contributed to declining teacher health and, in some cases, to their withdrawal from the profession.