Resumen de School and life for teenagers. Expectations and hopes in italy and brazil
Licinia Correa, Francesca D'Errico, Isabella Poggi
Within a Marie Curie European Project, a comparative research has been conducted concerning the interaction of teenagers with school in Italy and Brazil, and the formation o their identity as stu- dents. Ten focus groups were run with students of 9 high schools in high, medium and low class sections in Roma and Belo Horizonte, and they were analyzed through quali-quantitative techniques of textual analysis. Results show striking differences between Italy and Brazil as to the students’ expectations about school, but also some similarities were found in their school experience and con- cerning the role of school in their life.
Italian students differ from Brazilian ones since the former do not attribute a high value to scho- ol as a means for social mobility. The majority of Italian students show impressive levels of pessi- mism about the possibility of finding a better place in society thanks to education. Many of them express a strong feeling of decline about the Italian social economic and cultural reality. On the contrary the Brazilian students, notwithstanding the dramatic levels of hunger, poverty and violence they live in, show a strong awareness about the ascending trajectory of their country, and a high level of trust in their future and in the role of school in their life project
