Por uma percepção multiangular : a inserção da discussão sobre o envelhecimento na escola da vida e na vida da escola

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the perceptions and expectations of women teachers in a city near Porto Alegre, RS, regarding their aging process and to verify whether or not the strategies to speak of (about the) aging theme are used in schools where they work. Thereby, at first, one tried to bring up concepts from the researcher s empirical look through the worked data, regarded as primary data and collected from August to December 2012, by means of semi-structured observation and field diary. The second phase consisted of an open invitation and the choice of subjects selected for this study: six female teachers, working in schools in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre. At that time, these teachers were doing a postgraduate course of School Management and Psychopedagogy, in which they had the researcher as their professor in the discipline of Sociological and Philosophical Foundations of Education. The age group of the teachers, including the researcher, raged from 40 up to 45 years old and, according to Mosquera (2012), corresponds to the middle adulthood and final mean . In order to provide continuity and support to the theoretical research, studies on aging, female teaching and health were used as references. The third phase consisted of the observation through the dialogues that emerged in the discipline meetings, always imbued with stories that ended up basing the chapters of this thesis. Collected data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. The interviews and data collected through field diary were also categories of analysis that addressed the aging process and its relation to the life processes of the teachers. It was also possible to see how these processes influence or affect their daily lives, in relation to work, leisure, body design and other factors perceived differently by some women, even living in similar socio-cultural contexts. As a mode of data collection, during the meetings/ postgraduate classes, there was a presentation of either an article or a video previously selected by the researcher; this presentation was followed by a discussion about the topic. Therewith, one observes that self-perception is a stereotyped aesthetic ideal which affects part of the women participating in the research. Perceiving themselves in the aging process, they find themselves in pursuit of the lost youth and of experiences that have not been lived. Support from the partner or family proved to be a mitigating factor for the physiological changes of aging. The awareness of body changes seems to be, for some, a way of denying their own sexuality. The social context also seems to be a very important aspect regarding the construction of the female teacher own image. However, some of the research participants showed some rich experiences about the legitimacy of their identity in the psychosocial context. The topics covered by this study were divided in cores of meaning: the woman/person in the social context, the woman/teacher and the woman seeking for spaces and strategies to talk about her aging process. It was concluded that it is in the perception of the biopsychosocial context related to themselves and their own aging process that these female teachers will be able to discuss topics of selfknowledge related to the aging process from the school premises. Thus, strategies and projects that are to be brought to school are required, in order to create a space of amplitude and recognition of their weaknesses and strengths regarding the aging theme. The researcher -as professor of the postgraduate discipline proposed a final assignment in which the students should present verbally to the group proposals/strategies to talk about the topics Aging Process and Adulthood from its reality, namely in everyday school life, where the topic can be discussed under multiangular aspects. The complexity of the subject is not limited to the scientific context of this study, but creates a sense of continuity, since knowledge is formed and seated on a horizontal space. It will always be necessary to add, revise and rewrite a subject complement.