Citizenship in the school: Limits and possibilities in educational practice

Abstract

This article analyzes how citizenship materializes in the school considering the curricular and methodological characteristics of teaching. It reflects about conceptual issues and forms of transposing citizenship in the school environment, situating categories and difficulties in the discoursive and methodological operations as parts of the process of citizenship learning. The investigation also includes the study of citizenship expressed by the children’s voices vis-à-vis the actions already developed by the school. Among the most meaningful results related to the teachers is the dichotomy between discourse and methodology originating from the contradictions of the school system. As far as the students are concerned, the lack of knowledge about the local space stands in opposition to the goal of articulating different spheres of interaction, besides the silencing and difficulty of working in a group. Among the moments of intervention one can highlight an improvement in participation, better knowledge of the local context and evidences of autonomy, which are important prerogatives for the citizen’s personal and social development.

Key words: citizenship, reflection, knowledge, methodology.