This paper presents a critical analysis of recent academic production (2020-2024) on full-time education in Brazil, based on scientific articles indexed in the SciELO digital library. The objective was to investigate the meanings attributed to full-time education policies, their impacts on school management, pedagogical practices, and teachers' working conditions. From the literature review, contradictions between official discourses and concrete practices are identified, revealing the prevalence of fragmented, selective models often subordinated to managerial logic and market rationality. The text also addresses conceptual disputes between "integral education" and "full-time education," the limitations imposed by precarious school structures, and the role of external evaluations in intensifying teacher accountability. Resistance pedagogies and counter-hegemonic educational practices are also discussed, particularly in territories marked by social inequalities. It concludes that the effectiveness of full-time education depends on adequate funding, teacher valorization, listening to school communities, and overcoming the meritocratic and technocratic logics that sustain the segmentation of educational provision.