O ensino médio em crise na modernidade líquida: representações sociais de professores e estudantes do sul do Brasil sobre o (des)interesse escolar à luz da epistemologia genética

Abstract

The objective of this thesis was to analyze the structure and diversity of the Social Representations (SR) held by high school teachers and students in the Southern region of Brazil regarding student (dis)engagement. This research is justified by the difficulty in defining student engagement, which may result in the disproportionate attribution of responsibility to students and their families. To examine this phenomenon, the research adopts SR Theory as a tool to capture the social thought of participants and Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology as a framework for critical analysis, emphasizing the inseparability of affectivity and cognition in the educational process. By also considering the challenges faced by schools in Liquid Modernity, the thesis proposes a critical approach that seeks to move beyond reductionist perspectives on school failure. The study employs a multimethod approach of a quanti-qualitative nature, involving teachers and students from three cities in Southern Brazil (Ponta Grossa, Araquari, and Imbituba). Data collection occurred in two stages: the administration of questionnaires, including free word associations to identify the central core and the peripheral system of the representations (f=172 teachers and f=570 students), and interviews to deepen the analysis of representational dimensions (f=41 teachers and f=86 students). The data were analyzed using the EVOC software (prototypical analysis) and IRaMuTeQ (textual analysis), complemented by the researcher’s hermeneutic interpretation. Teachers' SR regarding student (dis)engagement are divided into two perspectives: the Moralizing SR, which is hegemonic, attributes student disengagement to external factors (family, social context), and prioritizes traditional teaching practices; and the Critical Pedagogical SR, which is less common and emphasizes active methodologies, student protagonism, and a more dialogical teacher-student relationship. Students' SR, in turn, highlight teaching quality and affectivity as central to engagement, valuing teachers who explain clearly, foster interaction, and implement dynamic and collaborative activities. Conversely, student disengagement is associated with monotonous lessons, excessive copying from the board, and disconnected content, as well as interactions with teachers marked by rudeness, which create emotional barriers and reinforce apathy.The findings support three arguments. First, the inseparability of affect and cognition is essential for fostering student engagement. Supportive teachers and active methodologies enhance engagement, while unmotivated teachers and decontextualized practices generate frustration, leading to a cycle of mutual disengagement. Second, disengagement reflects the school’s difficulty in adapting to Liquid Modernity, as it maintains passive methods and rigid curricula detached from contemporary transformations. Third, teacher autonomy is constrained by precarious working conditions and institutional control, hindering pedagogical innovation. The SR on student (dis)engagement reveal a structural crisis in public schooling, manifested in three dimensions: a crisis of hegemony, characterized by the loss of the school’s monopoly on knowledge, rigid curricula, and outdated methods; a crisis of legitimacy, expressed in the growing disbelief of teachers and students in the school’s educational function; and a crisis of institutionality, marked by teacher precarization, the adoption of external management models, and the lack of student voice in decision-making. Overcoming student disengagement and these interrelated crises requires reconfiguring the school as a space for critical and socially relevant education, prioritizing active methodologies, affective engagement, and collaborative bonds to counter the fragmenting pressures of Liquid Modernity.