Living in between: Schooling processes of working-class students in Northern Portugal

Authors

Abstract

This article discusses schooling processes among students attending public school in contexts defined as vulnerable. The work also takes into account the implications of a narrative- based method, especially in terms of the relationships that can be built between researcher and research participants. On the understanding that the narrative approach has the potential to consolidate itself as a source of information on a particular social group, secondary school students, we raise a debate about the representations young people make of school. In addition, we analyze future frameworks in light of schooling processes developed in disadvantaged areas. With regard to method, we weave a dialogue on the requirements and ethical implications concerning the relationship between researcher and participants. This text is based on biographical meetings held with two students aged 17, a boy and a girl, enrolled in a Portuguese secondary school. The results show that the students perceive school as a key place for learning, a site where socialization occurs and, especially, a refuge from problems. Despite supporting future projections, however, this same school cannot work as a social equity device.

Keywords

periphery, public school, secondary school, youth, equity, narratives

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Author Biographies

Thiago Freires, Universidade do Porto

Thiago Freires is a PhD fellow at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto (FPCEUP). He holds a Master's in Educational Sciences from FPCEUP and a Degree on Languages (Portuguese / English) from the University of São Paulo (USP). His research focuses mainly in educational processes of students living in disadvantaged areas. His research interests involve public education, secondary school and youth.

Fátima Pereira, Universidade do Porto

Fátima Pereira is Assistant Professor (lecturer) with Aggregation at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto (FPCEUP), Portugal. Presently, she is a member of the Ethics Committee and deputy coordinator of the Office of Continuing Education at the same faculty. She acts as a researcher and member of the Scientific Board of the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE). In recent decades, she has conducted research and published more than hundred works on professions, training, and school education, nationally and internationally, and she has coordinated various Master’s courses in the field of teacher education and school education. Since 1993, she has been involved in several national and international research projects and networks, both national and international, regarding school education, mainly teacher education.

Published

2018-01-23

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