Representações sociais de inclusão digital nas práticas educativas não escolares em uma instituição não governamental no município de Niterói-RJ

Abstract

This research, presented in the form of a dissertation, seeks to reveal the social representations of digital inclusion on the part of educators who work in two units of a socio-educational project located in Niterói-RJ city. These units offer, in addition to various services, educational technology workshops for young people, children and adolescents from nearby communities. The main objectives of this research are to identify the social representations of digital inclusion shared by the social educators of this institution and to understand how these representations influence the offered socio-educational practices. The study adopts a qualitative approach and uses semi-structured interviews with the institution's professionals, as well as field diaries that record the educators' daily life, practices and interactions. These diaries are built based on field observations, inspired by the transcendental phenomenology proposed by Edmund Husserl, and serve as a data collection instrument. From the collected material, a rhetorical-philosophical analysis is carried out, based on the ideas of Aristotle and Olivier Reboul, aiming to reveal the figurative nucleus that is being reified among the professionals participating in the research. In addition, as main theoretical references, the works of Pierre Levy and Manuel Castells are used to understand the cybercultural context, as well as Mark Warschauer to understand how education in technology is directed to the less privileged layers. In the field of Social Pedagogy, the contributions of Paulo Freire and Geraldo Caliman are considered, and in the field of Theory of Social Representations, the theories of Willem Doise and Serge Moscovici are considered. The research results revealed the presence of social representations of digital inclusion that portray a perception of "need for access", where a shallow notion of obtaining digital devices and connecting to thematic networks are constituents of digital inclusion. It is concluded that these social representations of digital inclusion shared by the investigated group do not effectively contribute to the formation of students. Furthermore, it is observed that educators tend to prioritize their own anxieties and aspirations, which influences the organization and constitution of educational actions in technology developed in this institution.