Is democratization of access to higher education in brazil an instrument of social justice? Possibilities and challenges in teacher training

Abstract

Affirmative action’s play an essential role in the process of democratizing access to higher education in Brazil, especially in initial teacher education courses, which have a large representation of the less favored classes. Based on this, this study asked: How do undergraduate students at the Universidade Federal da Bahia perceive their presence in higher education and use the knowledge acquired in this space as educators? From a decolonial epistemic perspective, the goal of this research was to explore the meanings attributed by students to the experience of being in higher education highlighting the challenges of social justice in this inclusive process. The case study was the method used, having as instruments interviews and focus groups conducted with 74 students. From the content analysis we were able to group their reports into three categories: The socioeconomic profile and choice of the course; social actors in the commitment to quality education; and hierarchy of popular and scientific knowledge at the University. More than half of the participating students have a low-income family, most are black and attended public school. Student’s reports have demonstrated recognition of social justice by having access to the course at a federal higher education institution; the importance of education for citizen formation; the emphasis of self-knowledge as a process of emancipatory education; the need for public and institutional policies that enable the permanence and completion of training; and, finally, the lack of recognition of prior knowledge that could be part of the fruitful exchange of knowledge necessary for the educational process.