An emancipatory teaching strategy based on the Theory of Social Representations

Abstract

The dialogical relationship between teachers and students motivated the development of the study that had double aim: to associate the investigation of the meaning attributed by students to a curricular component and create a pedagogical strategy based on the theory of social representations. During the second semester of 2016, the referred strategy was being developed and investigated with students of a degree of accounting sciences, enrolled in the subject of law and tax legislation, 5th period, night shift, of a university in the region of Guarulhos, São Paulo, supported by procedures of scientific research and pedagogical interventions. The choice of the bachelor’s degree was guided by the hypothesis that the significance of a border discipline to that which the students chose for their professional lives could contribute to the understanding of mechanisms to improve their studies. The identification of axes of signification at the beginning of the course allowed the exploration, together with the students, of methods supported by the principles of Freirean pedagogy and of emancipatory evaluation, being given the opportunity to participate as active subjects, and to negotiate social representations. The results obtained evidenced the change of stereotyped representations, especially with regard to the value associated with the curricular component of the study, and can support other professionals in the education to look for an approximation of students with reified knowledge.