Technocapitalism and corporate pervasiveness in educational technology governance:
Partnerships, limits, and rearrangements of the public
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1981-2582.2026.1.50058Keywords:
Technocapitalism, digital education, educational technology, public-private partnerships, education policyAbstract
This study examines how corporate actors have become increasingly embedded in the governance of educational technology policies within Brazilian state public education systems and interrogates the limits and displacements that this dynamic imposes on so-called public-private partnerships. While digital education policies are often framed through discourses of innovation, collaboration, and technical cooperation, educational technology companies, digital platforms, and private consultancies have progressively become structuring agents in the implementation of educational policy. Grounded in the concept of technocapitalism, this article understands digital education as a strategic frontier for the reconfiguration of the public sphere through market-oriented logics. The study draws on interviews with representatives from 23 state departments of education and on the analysis of their respective Digital Education and Pedagogical Innovation Plans, combining content analysis with a critical-discursive approach to examine how corporate participation is legitimized and normalized within institutional discourses. The analysis highlights how corporate actors become positioned as essential mediators of digital education policy, influencing governance structures, technical expertise, and the boundaries between public and private responsibilities. The article argues that these arrangements exceed conventional understandings of public-private partnerships and reflect broader technocapitalist transformations in contemporary education governance.
Downloads
References
Adrião, T., Gemaque, R., Jacomini, M., Pinto, J. M. R., Domiciano, C., & Chaves, V. J. (2026). Importa falar em financiamento da educação em meio ao “fim do mundo”? FINEDUCA, 16, 1–3. https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/fineduca/article/view/153636
Avelar, M. (2025). Mapping the digital education landscape: Stakeholders and networks of governance in Brazil. International Journal of Educational Development, 112, e103192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103192
Ball, S. J., & Grimaldi, E. (2021). Neoliberal education and the neoliberal digital classroom. Learning, Media and Technology, 47(2), 288–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1963980
Bardin, L. (2011). Análise de conteúdo. Edições 70.
Campos, D. C. B., & Damasceno, A. (2020). Parcerias público-privadas: Trajetória histórica no Brasil e sua inserção na política educacional brasileira. Perspectiva, 38(1), e62834. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-795X.2020.e62834
Candido, H. H. D. (2018). Public–private interface in Brazilian education governance: Reflections from a subnational analysis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(131), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.3604
Curran, F. C., Carlo, S., & Harris-Walls, K. (2024). Making the data visible: A systematic review of systems-level data dashboards for leadership and policy in education. Review of Educational Research, 96(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543241288249
Decreto n. 11.713, de 26 de setembro de 2023. (2023, setembro 27). Institui a Estratégia Nacional de Escolas Conectadas. Presidência da República. https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/decreto/d11713.htm
Decuypere, M., Grimaldi, E., & Landri, P. (2021). Introduction: Critical studies of digital education platforms. Critical Studies in Education, 62(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2020.1866050
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge.
Ferreira, G. M. S. (2025). Interview with Neil Selwyn. Revista Brasileira de Política e Administração da Educação, 41(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.21573/vol41n12025.142046
Grimaldi, E., Peruzzo, F., & Ball, S. J. (2025). The Italian edtech market in the making. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33(59), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.33.8657
Heinsfeld, B. D., & Marone, V. (2023). Reporting or marketing? The discourse on technology in educational landscape reports. Discover Education, 2(50), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-023-00075-6
Kerssens, N., & van Dijck, J. (2022). Governed by Edtech? Valuing pedagogical autonomy in a platform society. Harvard Educational Review, 92(2), 284–303. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-92.2.284
Landri, P. (2018). Digital governance of education: Technology, standards and Europeanization of education. Bloomsbury Academic.
Lei n. 14.533, de 11 de janeiro de 2023. (2023, janeiro 11). Institui a Política Nacional de Educação Digital e altera as Leis nºs 9.394, de 20 de dezembro de 1996 (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional), 9.448, de 14 de março de 1997, 10.260, de 12 de julho de 2001, e 10.753, de 30 de outubro de 2003. Presidência da República. https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/lei/l14533.htm
Lima, G. M., & Ferreira, G. M. S. (2025). As EdTechs brasileiras: Aproximações a partir de Bourdieu. Revista Brasileira de Política e Administração da Educação, 41(1), e141934. https://doi.org/10.21573/vol41n12025.141934
Lima, P. V. (2025). Transformação digital da educação no Brasil: Políticas educacionais e relações entre o público e o privado na era digital do capitalismo [Tese de Doutorado, Faculdade de Educação, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul]. Lume Repositório Digital. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/296888
Ministério da Educação. (2022). Base Nacional Comum Curricular Computação: Complemento à BNCC. MEC.
Oliveira, D. A., & Avelar, M. (2025). How education policies are decided by an elite: Analysis of the relationships between philanthropy and government in Brazil. In R. Normand, L. Moos, & L. M. Carvalho (Eds.), National and transnational elite influences on education (pp. 195–211). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-91675-5_10
Ortegón, C., Williamson, B., & Decuypere, M. (2024). Edtech brokers and evidence governance: Knowledge intermediaries in the education technology market. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2024.2439419
Pizolati, A. R. C. (2025). A privatização digital da educação e seus impactos no currículo escolar: Uma análise crítica. Revista Educação em Páginas, 4(4), e15914. https://doi.org/10.22481/redupa.v4.15914
Saura, G. (2025). Editorial: El capital, la tecnología digital y la educación. Revista Española de Educación Comparada, 48, 11–30. https://doi.org/10.5944/reec.48.2025.46818
Srnicek, N. (2017). Platform capitalism. Polity Press.
Suárez-Villa, L. (2009). Technocapitalism: A critical perspective on technological innovation and corporatism. Temple University Press.
Tarlau, R., & Moeller, K. (2019). ‘Philanthropizing’ consent: How a private foundation pushed through national learning standards in Brazil. Journal of Education Policy, 35(3), 337–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2018.1560504
van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The platform society: Public values in a connective world. Oxford University Press.
Williamson, B., & Komljenovic, J. (2023). Investing in imagined digital futures: The techno-financial ‘futuring’ of edtech investors in higher education. Critical Studies in Education, 64(3), 234–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2022.2081587
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Bruna Damiana Heinsfeld
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
