#falaestudante!: um estudo sobre o legado da expansão dos Institutos Federais aos seus estudantes

Abstract

The current thesis is regarding the meanings of the expansion of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science, and Technology to students from the working-class. The expansion of Federal Institutes is understood in the context of the expansion of the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Educacional, which was launched in 2005 and planned until 2014. The central hypothesis which guided this study consisted of considering the expansion of the Professional and Technological Educacional and Federal Institutes as a process of increasing the access of young from working-class to education, however, at the same time, the referred process turned out in limits to students staying at school, taking into consideration the features and legal functions of the Federal Institutes into local, regional socioeconomic development. The chosen way to grasp the meanings of Federal Institutes’ expansion to their students was inspired by the historical and dialectical materialism and its readings in the Marxist legacy, and the research was built through three investigative axes which connect to each other: a) the grasp of historical and ontological fundamentals of the relationship between work/labour and education into the historical-critical perspective, b) the study of historical and political-economical elements that reverberate on the expansion of Professional and Technological Education and Federal Institutes; c) the studying and analysis of the expansion process of Federal Institutes taking into account their territories and the meanings to their students. The research layout regarding its techniques was carried out by a quantitative-qualitative research perspective. By undertaking a documental research, Federal Institutes indicators were nationwide analyzed during the period from 2009 to 2014, this step besides providing a whole picture scenario to Federal Institutes, where it was possible to identify particularities and disparities, also contributed to the selection of five Federal Institutes, where the field research with students took place: Federal Institute of Mato Grosso do Sul, Federal Institute of the South of Minas Gerais, Federal Institute of Southeast of Minas Gerais, Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte, and Federal Institute of São Paulo. The field research consisted of the conduction of nine focal groups, where young students from pre-existent campuses and new campuses installed during the Professional and Technological Education expansion process. The research findings confirmed the central hypothesis that the expansion of Federal Institutes and Professional and Technological Education meant the increase of the access of the young from working-class to education whereas the expansion produced precarious campuses, what makes harder the students access and staying at the Federal Institutes. In addition, it was found that Federal Institutes have established fragile bonds to their territories in order to contribute to the local and regional socioeconomic development, this fact could cause impacts on the graduate’s nonbonding to their campuses territories. Lastly, although criticisms regarding infrastructure and organization of Federal Institutes have been remarked by the students, such institutions are also conceived as a necessary public good for the territories in which they are located, in order to provide access to cultural goods not previously accomplished