Once upon a time & was there literature at school? Recent memories of teaching literature in São Paulo State Basic Education

• Grant number: 14/20439-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education
• Principal Investigator: Jorge Luís Mialhe
• Grantee: Gabriela Caritá
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Literature is only meant to be art, but it contributes to various aspects of human development. One of its most effective consequences is related to the expertise of reading and writing. To encourage reading and improve the access to books and literature, the Brazilian government, from the second half of the 20th century on, has enacted several laws and decrees, created reading programs, and published orientations for the teaching of reading. Such actions have enabled non-governmental institutions to develop programs and projects. The research Portraits of Reading in Brazil has emerged in this context, with the aim of assessing the Brazilians' reading capacity, and has shown, so far, that less than 20% of Brazilians read. The lack of reading has placed Brazil among the worst results in the world ranking of Education since 2002. The aim of this study is to investigate how the schools in São Paulo State and surroundings have worked with literature during the period in which the Brazilian government instituted the actions mentioned above. This is documental qualitative research that will analyze 40 memorial essays produced by graduation students of a Pedagogy course at a university inner São Paulo State. These essays concerned an experience of learning literature when the authors were school students. The authors have studied in public and/or private schools in various cities inner São Paulo State and neighboring States. The essays encompass different educational levels and comprise the decades from 1960 to 2000. This time scope can give us a wide view of our research subject and, due to its proximity to actuality, can enable us to confirm or not the results of the research Portraits of Reading in Brazil. We have the support of the software NVivo 10 for qualitative data analysis.(AU)