The journey of school knowledge in High School and the concept of refraction

This paper deals with the journey of school knowledge through different sites from its origin in the curriculum, to professional teachers’ life histories. At each site, a set of empirical materials is examined relating to the subject of research. In this sense, curriculum documents, textbooks and high school teachers’ narratives were analysed, observing the refractive processes gone through during the journey. The research encompasses the curriculum policies for the Brazilian high school in the last two decades. As a result, it highlights the unexpected ways of appropriation that emerge out of control along the way. Dealing with the reinterpretations of curriculum policies, it is necessary to consider the sensibilities and intentions involved in every state. It is possible to perceive, through a narrative capital, that public policies need to contemplate the life missions of the social actors involved in the education process.