Meanings of school reprobation for adolescent students in public schools

Abstract

This paper aims to present a survey experience which sought to understand the meanings of school reprobation and the elements related to it by students on the last grades of elementary public schools in São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais. Presently, the investigated teenagers attended the regular teaching program and Programa Acelerar para Vencer (PAV), implemented by the state government in 2008. We take as basement some contributions from theoretical and methodological perspectives of interactionism, especially the ethnomethodological aspect. The study showed that meanings given to the school reprobation vary from rejection and belief in its disciplinary power. We noticed by the students’ speeches that reprobation is only seen as a failure by those students who see school as the only way to achieve professional success.

Keywords

• School reprobation, Adolescent students, Elementar Schooling.