A Educação de Jovens e Adultos como estratégia de emancipação da mulher na perspectiva Freireana

Abstract

This dissertation investigates Youth and Adult Education as a strategy for the emancipation of women, grounded in the Freirean perspective. The study is linked to the Professional Master’s Program in Education of the Graduate Program in Education and Educational Practices (PPGEPE), within the research line of Pluriculturality, Interculturality, and Interdisciplinary Educational Practices. The theoretical framework is primarily based on the ideas of Paulo Freire (1979, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2014), in dialogue with authors who discuss YAE as an affirmative policy and a social right, such as Arroyo (2007), Gadotti (2009), and Di Pierro (2005), as well as with studies on education, gender, and women’s emancipation, drawing on the contributions of Scott (1990), Louro (1997), Perrot (2007), and Hooks (2013). The guiding research question is: How can Youth and Adult Education, from a Freirean perspective, contribute to the emancipation of women? The study is justified by the intrinsic relationship between YAE and processes of women’s emancipation, considering education as a social practice capable of promoting autonomy, critical consciousness, and the transformation of conditions of inequality historically imposed on women. The research addresses the social, historical, and cultural barriers that hinder women’s access to, permanence in, and success within schooling, highlighting the potential of YAE to overcome these inequalities and promote educational inclusion. This is a qualitative study developed through action research, with data production procedures carried out through discussion circles and interviews inspired by Paulo Freire’s Culture Circles methodology. The participants of the study are ten female students enrolled in the third segment of Youth and Adult Education at Marechal Ribas Júnior State School, located in the municipality of Sítio Novo do Tocantins, TO, Brazil. The results indicate that women’s participation in YAE significantly contributes to strengthening personal autonomy, social belonging, and critical awareness, enabling the re-signification of life trajectories, the confrontation of gender inequalities, and the recognition of themselves as subjects of rights. As an educational product, a pedagogical manual was collectively developed, aimed at strengthening the emancipatory perspective of women within Youth and Adult Education.