"In fact, everyone wants to be perfect" Meanings of the school experience and school reinforcement for a teenager

Abstract

In this paper some of the meanings of a primary school student for the school experience are analyzed, based on a demand for school reinforcement. This activity is a constant part of the daily life of many children and adolescents in Brazil, and it is observed that it can have both positive (when it helps the young in a process of self-discovery and development) and negative connotations (when it becomes a form of stigma and exclusion) for the life of the students, framing and giving new meanings to the school experience in a broader sense. For the data collection, a semi-structured interview with a 10-year-old girl was performed, with subsequent transcription and data analysis using Bardin’s Content Analysis method (2016). The analysis is complemented with the support of authors and theories of the areas of Education and Psychology. The results and conclusion suggest that teachers, parents and education professionals need subsidies to re-signify school reinforcement and its relation to the school experience as a whole, transmitting a more positive image of this process to young people and adolescents, so that it is considered an opportunity for development rather than being seen as form of punishment or cause for exclusion.