We investigate relations between the meanings attributed by teachers of Physics, Chemistry and Biology from two public schools to the quality of science education and those associated with curricular policies. To do so, we analyzed re-contextualization processes of curriculum policies and the quality of science education in teachers' pedagogical discourse. Although a market based meaning for training has been associated with the quality of science education by teachers of both schools, the processes of re-contextualization policies end up shaping their pedagogical discourses differently: while high ENEM school teachers select the contents from the official examinations and use contextualization to enrich them, the low ENEM school teachers select some scientific knowledge useful to the concrete reality of the students and contextualize this knowledge without recognizing this process as quality assurance. Rather, contextualization plays the role of a consolation prize.
Science education; High school; Pedagogical discourse; Quality of education; Curriculum; Public school