INTERCULTURALITY AND SCHOOLING: WHAT DOES THE VOICES OF STUDENTS IN BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL REVEAL ON THE DIFFICULTIES AND POTENTIALITY OF THE SCHOOL

• Grant number: 18/18474-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: February 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Camélia Santina Murgo
• Grantee: Camélia Santina Murgo
• Host Investigator: Maria Celeste Rocha Simoes
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade do Oeste Paulista (UNOESTE). Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract

The present research has as fundamental interest to analyze the interactions experienced by students in the school microsystem and to understand the impacts that can result from these interactions in the process of school adaptation. Thus, it seeks theoretical support from the perspective of the ecological theory of human development. Theoretical and empirical findings have revealed significant incidences of problems related to school adaptation, which may be reflecting the school's dysfunctional configuration. In this respect, investigations in the Brazilian context have revealed that the emotional and behavioral difficulties are those of greater incidence among students, followed by learning difficulties, difficulties of interpersonal relationship and difficulties of daily life. Because it was an intercultural study, information about school adaptation issues in Portuguese schools was verified, with problems expressed by learning difficulties, emotional difficulties and interpersonal difficulties. Thus, realities that resemble the difficulties of school adaptation and negative impacts on the development process of children and adolescents are revealed in the literature. Thus, it was defined as a general objective of the research to analyze the meanings attributed to the school by Brazilian and Portuguese adolescents who present difficulties in school adaptation. It will also be sought to verify how the adolescents evaluate the services provided by the school staff in the support to face their difficulties of adaptation; and promote dialogue between Brazilian and Portuguese students to share their school experiences and make suggestions for strategies to help them cope with their difficulties. Regarding the approach and modality of research, this is a qualitative case study. The research will take place in two high schools, one located in the interior of the state of São Paulo (Brazil) and another in the city of Lisbon (Portugal). As for the participants, there will be 10 adolescents, five Brazilians and five Portuguese, between the ages of 14 and 16 of both sexes who present problems of school adaptation. For the collection of data will be used visual methods, more specifically, video production. The project foresees that the steps of data collection take place from March to September 2019. In the first stage a meeting will be held with the team of professionals from the Brazilian school: to define the students that will compose the research sample. In the second stage, the first focal group meeting with Brazilian students will be held for the guidelines regarding the recordings of the first video that will contain contents related to the school structure and the second video, which will present the difficulties encountered by the students in their school routine. Following this, the initial stages will be faithfully reproduced in the Lisbon school, that is, a meeting with a team of professionals from the Portuguese school, the first focal group meeting with Portuguese students, the first two videos produced by these students, the second focal group meeting . The next stage provides for the exchange of videos between Brazilian and Portuguese students and the first meeting (via web) of a focus group with all the participants to jointly discuss the contents of the videos and preparation of the third film that will contain suggestions of support actions the difficulties of adaptation faced by students of both nationalities. For the data collected will be carried out the qualitative analysis through the technique of Content Analysis. It is hoped that intercultural research will allow us to envisage possibilities of replication of the study so that the data are expanded and favor the elaboration of intervention plans for the schools involved.