Educational policy and the new conservatism: beliefs mobilized in the discussion of the National Education Plan

This article examines the beliefs of the National Confederation of Associations of Parents of Students (CONFENAPAIS) in the context of the development of the new National Education Plan (PNE). CONFENAPAIS is a nongovernmental organization with national coverage, with representation in the National Education Forum and in the 2024 National Conference on Education. Using Sabatier’s defense coalition model (DCM) (1998), this qualitative research focuses on the documents and discourses of CONFENAPAIS. The results indicate that the organization supports the agenda of the new conservatism, emphasizing traditional moral values, control through “social order”, “freedom of educational choice” that favors private models, “local autonomy” that can weaken inclusive guidelines, and deregulation to reduce state interference. The research reveals significant ideological tensions in the Brazilian educational field, underlining the need for ongoing debate on the role of education in promoting an inclusive and pluralistic society. https://doi.org/10.21723/riaee.v20i00.1936602