A EJA EM UMA INSTITUIÇÃO PÚBLICA FEDERAL DE ENSINO: ENTRE POLÍTICAS E PRÁTICAS DE UMA EDUCAÇÃO PROFISSIONAL TÉCNICA DE NÍVEL MÉDIO

Abstract

In the 21st century, millions of Brazilians are still illiterate and have not enjoyed the right to Youth and Adult Education (YAE). This research had the objective of researching the YAE integrated to the Professional Education (PE) technical level, in the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goiás (IFG), from Decree nº 5840 of 2006, which instituted the National Program of Integration of Professional Education with Basic Education in the Mode of YAE (PBEMYAE). The research problem was limited to apprehending, understanding and interpreting the obstacles to compliance with the Decree in relation to the offer of YAE courses in the IFG. In an attempt to answer it and to meet the proposed objectives, we used the dialectical historical materialist method and carried out bibliographical research and empirical research. The data collection was carried out in two IFG campuses with application of questionnaires to two managers, six teachers, nine students of the YAE courses and interviews with managers and students. One of the great challenges, pointed out in the study, was the issue of school dropout, seen as a multifaceted process. It was reported by professors that the curricular matrix of one of the courses contained contents common to those in higher education and that there was not always a significant involvement of all teachers who worked in the YAE in order to adopt differentiated methodologies. Besides the abandonment of the course, other challenges pointed out were the realization of the integration of YAE with PE; the offer of different types of teaching in the same institution and the interest of the management and groups of teachers in consolidating other teaching modalities. The students interviewed were itinerant subjects, abandoned the school banks for several factors and, after 20 years away from school, they returned and stayed in the course in search of professional qualification, obtaining the diploma, in the hope of getting a better job. However, many reported difficulty in learning in certain subjects, little concentration in the classroom, a teacher who did not know how to teach the content and did not answer the students' doubts. The YAE was referred to as a challenge for teachers, perhaps because of the lack of training to act in this mode of teaching. Despite the challenges, the Institution has already managed to advance in some aspects: support of coordination in certain situations; and the awakening of students' interest in studies. Some pedagogical strategies, however successful, have already been practiced, such as stimulating the exchange of experience among students, valuing what they already know and planning disciplines that seek to integrate diverse contents. Listening to these subjects made it possible to compose the profile of the students that the institution should attend, as well as allowing reflections on the context in which these workers live, their relationship with the world of work and the school role. Finally, in spite of the recognition in the legal and normative dispositions regarding the obligatoriness, the gratuity and the specificity, unfortunately the YAE is still relegated to the second plane and with numerous challenges, among them the effectiveness of public policies that in fact offer conditions of access and terminality of studies, and particularly when integrated into PE.