CURRICULUM AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PUBLIC SCHOOL: BETWEEN THE REAL AND THE IMAGINARY

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the articulation between the formal curriculum and the teaching of English Language (EL) in public schools. It was based on the perceptions of current and former teachers from the final years of middle school and high school at a state school in Silvianópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Adopting a qualitative approach, the research applied Bardin’s (2010) Content Analysis to structured interviews with the participants. This method enabled a deeper understanding of 
the challenges faced by teachers in their daily school practices. The findings revealed that, in addition to widely recognized issues such as insufficient class hours, oversized classes, inadequate teaching materials, and student demotivation, there is another major obstacle: the lack of articulation between the curriculum and classroom reality. The English curriculum, by disregarding the different proficiency levels coexisting within a single class, imposes a rigidity that restricts effective teaching and learning practices. The 
investigation concluded that this misalignment reinforces the gap between what is prescribed by the 
curriculum (the imaginary) and what actually occurs in the classroom, marked by diverse proficiency levels and structural challenges (the real). Thus, the study emphasizes the need for adjustments in English Language teaching that acknowledge linguistic diversity and the real conditions of public education.