BODY, CULTURE AND ADOLESCENCE: A STUDY ON SELF-ESTEEM FROM LIVING EXPERIENCES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM ARACAJU-SE SCHOOLS

Abstract

This research aimed to describe the influences of the school context on the self-esteem of high school students from different schools of Aracaju, from the narratives about corporeality. This is a study that seeks to approximate the contributions of phenomenology to the educational field, involving body experiences, intersubjective relationships and the manifestation of self-esteem in the adolescents' corporeality. We use as a basis of theoretical support the foundations of the phenomenological perspective of Merleau-Ponty, which seeks the understanding of the human being in its unity. The research was carried out in two schools of Aracaju, a State Public School and another one, a Private School. The qualitative approach of the research was used, considering that its main feature is the descriptive knowledge that provides the interpretation of a context, as well as the discovery of new elements that may emerge during this process. We used as a methodological resource semi-structured interviews of the focus group type, in which, by expanding the objective, it was possible to contextualize the data collected and establish a greater interaction between the investigated. Therefore, through the interviews, it was possible to understand that the school is a place of multiple bodily experiences that act directly on the adolescents' perception of the world. The adolescents' reports, generated by the discussions during the realization of the focus group, revealed that bodily experiences and intersubjective relationships provide great relevance in their corporeality.