Reading and literary education: from the possible journey to the restrictions of the map

Abstract

Starting from the discussion of the reading concepts and literary education, this text intends to present a critical vision of the latest normative documents for Portuguese discipline in Basic Education concerning those areas. Its form and content, as well as its relationship with certain dominant assessment practices can be configured as potentially restrictive elements of professional teacher competencies, of the potential that reading and literary education would make possible, and of the formation of students, in the broadest sense. We seek, in our reflection, to highlight the aspects that, in our opinion, seem to be the most restrictive and limiting in the opening to the possibility of more flexible and adjusted practices to learning contexts and therefore the major obstacles tothe formation of critical readers and to the promotion of an effective literary education.