Repetência aqui e acolá: uma etnografia em perspectiva comparada dos sistemas escolares brasileiro e francês

Abstract

This thesis aimed to study the phenomenon of grade repetition based on an ethnography conducted in two schools: a high school located in a favela in the northern part of the city of Rio de Janeiro, and a lycée located in a northern suburb in Ile-de-France. The comparison attempt between these two countries bearing different historical backgrounds and educational systems intended to provide a comprehensive overview of an issue that represents the structure of schools over time and beyond borders which is grade repetition. In 1990, Sérgio Costa Ribeiro, describing the rampant and usual phenomenon of repetition in the Brazilian school environment, drew attention to the existence of the "pedagogia da repetência". In 1997, JeanJacques Paul also observed the "pedagogy of grade repetition", concluding that the prevalence of this practice in several countries proved the existence of a "social agreement" regarding its usefulness and its necessity in the pedagogical framework around the globe. More than 20 years later, the issue still persists in schools in both countries as a widespread practice not only among teachers and directors, but also among families, which are mostly favorable to the methodology; in many cases convincing the students to adopt the practice. Thus, the grade repetition became a part of the school experience being recognized as an inevitable instrument of the educational environment, despite its negative effects on school learning denounced by specialized studies. Therefore, public policies were implemented seeking a solution to the problem of grade repetition. In addition to the follow-up mechanisms, measures that sought to inhibit/prohibit_ grade repetition were launched in both contexts. In fact, the failure rates declined, but it did not mean the end of grade repetition in the school environment. When analyzing the practices related to this phenomenon beyond its visible function (the repetition of certain classes or grades failure) we observed the existence of some other latent functions of grade repetition, which were strongly linked to school organization and explained by the involvement of social actors to this practice. In the Brazilian case, since the middle school was divided into 3 shifts: morning, midday and evening, there was a practice of changing shifts for the students who had discipline issues and the repeaters. The isolation between these shifts was just noticeable. The dynamics of the "three schools" in the three shifts was explained, in fact, by the logic of the pedagogy of grade repetition. In the French context, there was a family strategy called "faire rédoubler", for the teenagers who would could not obtain their desired field. On the other hand, in the school councils, given the impossibility of the law to fail a student who did not "deserve" an approval, it was decided to refer these to the branches of less prestigious studies - the professionalizing pathways. Therefore, this thesis concluded that the simple prohibition of the grade repetition practice in the two cases presented did not prevent it from continuing to manifest itself in its latent functions. The night course and the professionalizing pathways became the new expression of the pedagogy of grade repetition.