Concepção de saúde na educação física escolar: perspectivando a BNCC nos anos finais do ensino fundamental (6º ao 9º ano)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the concept of health in the Physical Education curriculum component for the final years of elementary school, as presented in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC). The BNCC guides curricular guidelines in Brazil and treats health as a cross-cutting theme in Physical Education. Although this component is scientifically linked to the field of Health, according to the CNPq classifications, the BNCC pedagogically inserts it into the field of Languages, which raises important epistemological tensions. For the critical analysis of the curriculum document, a qualitative approach was adopted, based on content analysis, according to the assumptions of Bardin (2011). The research began with a systematic reading of the BNCC, focusing on references to health and Physical Education, which allowed the construction of two main analytical categories: (1) general aspects of the curriculum document, addressing the place of Physical Education as a field of knowledge and its ten specific competencies; and (2) specific aspects of Physical Education in the document, with an emphasis on competencies, skills, and content associated with health. The results reveal that, although the BNCC proposes comprehensive education and values physical practices as cultural expressions, a narrow conception of health prevails, often associated with biomedical logic and the practice of gymnastics. This approach reduces the complexity of the concept and limits its formative potential in the school context. Furthermore, health appears concentrated in only three competencies, lacking interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary articulation. The study also points out that organization by competencies tends to reproduce a utilitarian rationality, aligned with neoliberal perspectives, which weakens the critical and emancipatory function of Physical Education. Based on these findings, we propose a broader perspective on the relationship between health, body, and movement, anchored in critical and sociocultural concepts, in order to strengthen pedagogical practices committed to citizenship, diversity, and social justice. Finally, we present an Educational Product that connects the theme of health to physical practices, based on the BNCC guidelines, offering concrete support for teaching and improving Physical Education teaching in schools.