ORIGINAL ARTICLE
GOULART, Joender Luiz [1]
GOULART, Joender Luiz. School disinterest: in search of an understanding. Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. Year. 07, Ed. 01, Vol. 04, p. 89-110. January 2022. ISSN: 2448-0959, Access link: https://www.nucleodoconhecimento.com.br/education/school-disinterest
ABSTRACT
There is a growing perception among teachers that students are less and less interested in studies and less recognizing their authority and, therefore, the mere transmission of information without adequate reception would not characterize an efficient and effective teaching-learning process. In this context, the present research has as its guiding question: what makes students lose interest in classes and, consequently, in school? Its general objective is to understand, verify and analyze the causes of school disinterest among students in the 1st grade of High School at Colégio Estadual Xavier de Almeida. For this, the qualitative approach of the case study type was used as a methodology, using observation and semi-structured interviews as an instrument for collecting data and information. It was also necessary to build a theoretical framework in content published in books and scientific articles. In the analysis of the research results, the following categories of analysis were defined: disinterest, motivation and the school institution. The research contributions are to seek coherent means from the theoretical, teachers and students’ conceptions, to reduce disinterest, failure processes and school dropout in the researched unit. It is concluded that the lack of interest permeates issues related to students, family members, the fragile motivation of teachers in their pedagogical praxis and the school institution itself.
Keywords: Disinterest, Motivation, Teaching-learning process, Teacher-student interaction, Teacher training.
1. INTRODUCTION
Currently, a huge quotient of teachers and professionals linked to public education in the state network of the State of Goiás, as well as throughout the country, has complained in an indignant and distressing way about the lack of participation of students in their classes, with an apathetic posture and uncommitted in the classroom, in which often, even the parents can’t explain the reason or restrain. This is understood by the teachers, as the lack of interest in school, the lack of motivation to seek the ideal posture in the classroom, the little commitment necessary for the learning of the contents and knowledge provided to the students. And this will result in future obstacles (in the following grades or in life outside of school) for these students, since there was no significant learning of the contents.
In this context, the present research has as its guiding question: what makes students lose interest in classes and, consequently, in school?
The present research is linked to the theme “School Disinterest”; delimiting itself specifically in the lack of school interest of young people in the 1st grade of High School at Colégio Estadual Xavier de Almeida, with the general objective of understanding, verifying and analyzing the causes of these students’ lack of interest in school. The specific objectives to be achieved are: to raise the reasons for the students’ lack of interest in high school and to diagnose the profile of the disinterested student and their posture in the classroom.
This research is justified given the importance of understanding how this has occurred, in order to verify the causes and determining factors of school disinterest, in addition to seeking to point out practical, social and scientific contributions to the most complex area of education: classroom practice and the teaching-learning process. Thus, it started from the methodology of a case study of the reality of Colégio Estadual Xavier de Almeida, in Morrinhos-GO, having as research subjects an effective and experienced teacher, belonging to the school unit researched and some students from the school unit. The data obtained by the research were the result of the interview responses with the professor and an open questionnaire applied to the students.
It is known that the concern with students’ lack of interest in school is an issue considered by Brazilian education. In recent decades, educators throughout Brazil have been concerned about the issue of school demotivation. This silent and apparently unnoticed element, when compared to more evident problems such as indiscipline in the classroom, violence at school or the low rates in regional and national external assessments, was presented as a crucial factor in preventing students from advancing in their studies, bringing harmful consequences to the performance and success of students and the school unit itself, such as: a) Intervention between students and teachers; b) Evasion; c) High rate of partial progression; d) Disapproval.
Although teachers, coordination and management were concerned with this critical situation, no research or specific study capable of listing causes and factors that influence school disinterest at Colégio Estadual Xavier de Almeida had yet been produced. Hence, it is believed that this research contributed to this school unit, with the professionals who work there, and, in a more comprehensive way, can contribute to the educational area of pedagogical coordination to alleviate this situation. We advocate a pedagogical work of information and training of teachers, to act in a more collective, harmonious, collaborative and democratic way; in the elaboration of actions, projects and other articulated/planned/executed pedagogical mechanisms, in order to combat the root of countless conflicts experienced by Brazilian public education.
The presentation of this research was exposed through the theoretical foundation with the bibliographic and basic theoretical references, which will support the arguments made in the analysis of the data obtained by the research. Thus, the method employed will be presented in detail, explaining the research bias, the way of data collection and the procedures used, and the participation of the interviewed subjects.
This article will also present the categorization of research related to school disinterest, containing the testimonies of the subjects and their analysis, based on what has already been studied and researched by numerous leading authors in that area of knowledge. In the final considerations, the conclusions and synthesis of the results obtained after all the data analysis and investigative scientific work performed here are presented. At the end of this work, there are the questionnaires applied to the students and the teacher, in addition to the respective answers given by the subjects to the researcher.
2. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
The problem that involves the students’ lack of interest in school should not be understood only in itself, but analyzed, above all, in the dimension of the possible consequences of this, among them the low performance, interpersonal conflicts in the classroom and in other environments of the school and the high failure rates, partial progression and evasion. When looking only at disinterest, one tends to look for culprits or responsible, sometimes the students themselves, sometimes the teachers and their teaching methods, sometimes the school environment as a whole.
Knowing the students is one of the ways that can be promising for understanding the problem of disinterest. Listening to them allows us to identify aspects that justify the lack of interest, as well as preferences and opinions that can help to improve the educational dynamics in order to motivate students. Therefore, in this theoretical foundation section, we sought to discuss the topic based on a bibliographic survey, in which authors, books, articles and research on the subject were selected.
Nakamura et al. (2005), for example, state that many students have apathy for classes and even for teachers. It is as if they were at school, but with distant thought and attention, which implies a lack of minimum motivation necessary for the efficiency of the teaching and learning process, more precisely, of the learning of the contents taught.
Motivation is related to desire and, in the educational field, affects learning, either positively, when the student is motivated, or negatively, when he is not motivated, as explained by Fernández (1991). For this author, the problem of learning, that is, the symptom where intelligence is hindered by desire, is the privileged place, perhaps the only one, to observe the relationships between both structures. It is known that desire is something very strong; when you want, you can go very far. When you think of something you want, you have the strength to achieve it, a target is set, the subject is motivated. Desire is a natural human feeling.
Corroborating this point of view, Nakamura et al. (2005) who claim that the origin of motivation is linked to the desire to satisfy needs and to a set of factors that determine an individual’s conduct, which is based on the fact that the human being is a social animal by nature. In this perspective, the lack of desire results in apathy, which makes the teacher’s work unfeasible in the educational field. This is a common situation in many schools and it’s not just about personality issues.
The lack of desire and, therefore, of motivation is a serious problem and has led many young people to school failure, mainly reflected in dropout and failure in the face of non-learning. If “motivating or producing motives means predisposing the person to learning” (VALENTE, 2001, p. 71), not motivating them is the same as allowing them to close themselves off in their lack of interest and, therefore, not learn.
Thinking about all this in the context of high school students, there is an additional component that is adolescence. This stage of life is marked by major bodily and psychological changes that end up causing successive shifts in the interests, desires and motives of adolescents. Mood swings also mark this period of human development. It is not uncommon to find adolescents who at one time are motivated and excited, and at another they seem to be fighting with the world, with themselves or with their personal commitment to growth, maturation and training (TIBA, 1996).
Bringing the problem of demotivation into the school, Alves (2000) describes two dimensions to this obstacle in learning: on the one hand, students, who say that teachers are in a bad mood, who arrive tired at school, who only pass on activities and classes that are not interesting; and on the other hand, the teachers, who say that the class does not perform, without questioning the reason for non-learning.
Freire (1985) once pointed out that it is up to the teacher, for example, to encourage the student to ask questions, in order to instigate him to seek knowledge and knowledge. For this author, this means motivating the student, making him more curious so that he becomes an active and more participative subject during classes. In this dynamic, the teacher can show the student that he is responsible for his learning, and that the teacher is there to mediate knowledge, not to impose it.
It is noted that learning is a two-way street, in which students are interested in learning and teachers are willing to teach, each assuming their commitment to this process, because, as Moraes and Varela (2007, p. 10) said, “ life is a path and no one can walk the other”. This means that the student should not be forced to learn, but motivated, in the same way that the teacher should not impose knowledge, but arouse in students an interest in acquiring it.
The teacher, therefore, must recognize and assume for himself the importance of motivating the student throughout his learning path. In this regard, Fita (1999, p. 92) states that:
[…] a própria pessoa do professor pode ser uma fonte de motivação importantíssima. O tipo de relação que estabelecemos com os alunos pode gerar uma confiança e um aumento da atenção que são condições indispensáveis para a aprendizagem.
There were times when the imposition of learning was the keynote of the educational process. An example is the classic methods of torture, such as the paddle and stick, to punish indiscipline and lack of learning. These practices have been abolished for a long time, but, according to Alves (2000), there could be greater suffering for a child or adolescent than being forced to move in a “forest” of information whose concepts they cannot understand, and which no relationship can be seems to have with your life? For this author, the ideal would be to ensure the student’s involvement with the school and with the teacher, so that meaningful learning can be promoted based on exchange.
Imposing and punishing do not work and cannot even remotely be understood as motivating elements. Therefore, teachers need to transform their classes into thought-provoking and challenging moments, which are in line with the students’ interests and in accordance with the contents that will be worked on (MERCADO, 1999). Technological resources, for example, as mentioned by Alves (1999), is one of many ways for the teacher to move from a purely expository class pattern to a more dynamic and interactive class format. Arousing the interest of the class can be facilitated with the use of innovative strategies.
Teaching is an arduous task, but every teacher, when they graduate, assumes this commitment. Therefore, it is in your hands to seek alternatives to face adverse situations in school daily life, one of which is the lack of interest of some students. This reality is challenging and causes great concern, considering that the student’s lack of interest in achieving learning is a constant in the teachers’ complaints, which does not always find an answer within the walls of the school. The lack of interest can be the echo of the student’s social reality, or any other characteristic of the region in which he lives and lives (TORRE, 1999).
The fact is that the lack of motivation that causes lack of interest, or the lack of interest that causes lack of motivation, is worrying because it is a vector of intercurrences such as school failure, because, according to Bzuneck (2001, p. 13), “unmotivated students study very little or nothing and , consequently, they learn very little”. This is configured in an educational situation that prevents the formation of more competent individuals to exercise citizenship and fulfill themselves as people. It also prevents them from qualifying as fit for the many learnings that come throughout life.
Nakamura et al. (2005, p. 33) reflect on the student’s lack of interest:
[…] os alunos não querem nada, mas querem tudo. Acontece que há um descompasso entre a inteligência dos alunos e a falta de sensibilidade de uma parcela dos educadores. Por que insistir em querer tirar do aluno aquilo que ele não pode dar ou que não está disposto a oferecer, por falta de motivação ou vocação?
The education system was built in line with the needs of the capitalist system for skilled labor. When talking about educating for life and for the job market, this represents an attempt to align the preponderant interests of capital with the individual interests of those who are educated. In this context, one asks about the place of vocations, related areas and desires, commonly conflicting with the school’s objectives expressed in the contents and in the ways of transmitting knowledge. The challenge is to accommodate the purpose of the school to the purpose of the student, which may explain part of the reasons for the student’s lack of motivation and disinterest (LIBÂNEO, 2000).
The dynamics that move the world and that constantly transform society does not exclude the school, affecting it in the same intensity and provoking successive reformulations in content, practices and resources. The insertion of information and communication technology is just one example of this, and although it is not recent, it still challenges many teachers to good practices in the use of technological resources in the classroom. All this brings new social, political, economic, cultural and geographical realities that need to be accommodated so as not to further subjugate students and demotivate them. There are cases of equally unmotivated teachers with so many successive changes (BZUNECK, 2009).
Therefore, it is not simple to understand the student’s disinterest. The complexity of factors that may be associated requires multifactorial analyzes that would be a very difficult task in a single study. Understanding this limitation, the present research sought to raise and understand the lack of interest on the part of two students of the 1st Year of High School from a school in the State network of Goiás, in the city of Morrinhos. Although the sample seems, at first, irrelevant in terms of representativeness, the intention of the case study was to start this research format at school to stimulate the look towards the student, his motives, his desires and his interests. The results, if eventually used in pedagogical proposals by the school, can serve to help motivate other students and keep them interested in learning.
2.1 METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES
In order to develop a consistent research capable of showing what is intended to be achieved, in this work a qualitative approach was chosen which, according to Godoy (1995), is a type of approach that lists a set of characteristics identified with the following aspects: 1 ) the natural environment as a direct source of data and the researcher as a fundamental instrument; 2) the descriptive character; 3) the meaning people give to things and their lives; and 4) the inductive approach. Another author, Chizzotti (1991, p. 79), adds that “the qualitative approach is based on the principle that there is a dynamic relationship between the real world and the subject, a living interdependence between the subject and the object, an inseparable link between the real world and the subject objective world and the subjectivity of the subject.
The research theme was guided by an investigative process based on the case study methodology, on the issue of lack of motivation among students at the College under study, which characterizes school disinterest. In the present research work, we seek to discover new concepts about a certain phenomenon, according to André (1998). In this search, the case study presents some peculiar characteristics, namely: research involved with questions “how?” it’s because?” as opposed to “what?” and “how many?”; experimental forms of control or manipulation are not used (maintaining impartiality and impartiality); and the researcher uses multiple sources of data and diversified collection methods (direct and indirect observations, interviews, questionnaires, narratives, audio and video recordings, among others) (COUTINHO; CHAVES, 2002). This guarantees the validation of the research carried out and identifies the researcher’s attitude.
Data from this research were collected through individual interviews with an effective and experienced teacher, belonging to the school unit researched. This number was defined based on the criterion of “data saturation point” (BOGDAN; BIKLEN, 1994). The interviews were recorded and faithfully transcribed. The teacher interviewed was chosen by indication of the vice-director and general pedagogical coordinator of the school, as he is considered a professional with a close relationship with the subject of work and with the institution. These interviews took place at school, during working hours, during the night shift, during the month of August of this year.
2.2 CHOICE CRITERIA FOR INTERVIEWEE AND RESULTS
All data were studied using content analysis, as presented by Bardin (1991, p. 51). “It is not an instrument, but a range of equipment”. Thus, the analysis of the contents obtained through this research with the reinterpretation of the interviews in the light of the data from the questionnaires provides a research methodology that is part of the theoretical and practice, a relevant work for the investigation of a social theme.
Other data collected were obtained through a questionnaire with open questions applied to two students, indicated by the teachers, for presenting a picture of disinterest in their classes. In these questionnaires, the questions proposed aim not only to search for data on the causes (why) of disinterest, but also the possibility of a survey of factors and situations that trigger this disinterested attitude (how). This type of questionnaire offers a set of qualitative data in relation to factors intrinsic to the theme, obtained as responses, according to Gil (1987).
The criterion for choosing the research subjects who answered the questions was dedication and responsibility to their role. Regarding the students, the selection criteria were: attendance and maturity. These criteria were based on Freire’s theory, where the dedication and ethical, political and professional responsibility of the teacher places him/her with the duty to prepare, to train, to train before and during his/her professional activity. It is his responsibility to motivate his students to make their choices, to act responsibly in decision-making, dealing with the consequences of their actions.
After choosing the participants to answer the questionnaire, they were scheduled for the night shift at the institution, in which both are part. To guide the analysis of the data in the responses obtained, a sequence with the categorizations follows: disinterest, motivation and school institution. To maintain confidentiality regarding the subjects who participated in this interview, we named these students as (A) and (B).
2.3 DISINTEREST
When dealing with the question about disinterest, student (A) answered the question: And in relation to their teachers, are they disinterested in relation to the commitment to education? (Justify). She stated that “most teachers are really interested in exercising their position with determination and will, but some enter the classroom, to fulfill their schedule, without caring about what students need to learn”. Student (B) said that: “there are teachers who are committed to teaching, but she confesses that there are those who only want to earn their money”.
When analyzing the response of these two students, one can detect in their speech that there is a lack of commitment, motivation and a lack of responsibility on the part of some teachers. Not having the responsibility to teach a quality class to students is being an educational practice of some teachers. Teaching is an arduous task, but every teacher when he graduates has this commitment, therefore, it is in the hands of educators to seek alternatives to face the daily situations of schools.
Some teachers, far from proposing content that effectively transforms the student’s condition, intellectually transporting him beyond local and particular circumstances, are absolutely harmless and unable to challenge the student, to give a new meaning to what his academic and social life encompasses. Fulfilling his role of preparing for the future, the teacher appears to the student as a “bitter medicine” to be ingested in order for a distant good to be realized (SNYDERS, 1988).
It is essential that these teachers dialogue with their students, in a way that frees and transforms them, since the dialogue between the teacher and the students must take place in a democratic way. It is necessary to develop the practice of listening to students and seeking to understand the new language of this current decade. This lack of dialogue between students and teacher in the researched school can be seen; the language of most teachers, even due to the distance of generations, differs in intensity from that articulated by the students.
The concept of “committed, dedicated teacher”, obtained from student B, refers, especially, to good teacher-student interaction, in a micro space, which is the classroom. As it is clear in the speech of student B, the student has a critical sense to perceive which teacher has the professional seriousness when exercising his teaching. Results obtained from research carried out by Moysés (1994) indicated that a “good teacher” is one who plays the role of trainer of critical and well-informed citizens. In this aspect, it is possible to perceive in the speech of the researched student (B) that the committed teacher is also the one who promotes their interaction with the student, marked by affection, appreciation of their individuality and dedication to work; those who seek to update themselves, enjoy what they do, have commitment, dedication and responsibility.
In addition, it is worth mentioning the conceptions related to the “bad teacher”, because, comparing the answers, it is verified that opposite characteristics are attributed to them, such as, for example, the “good” is what he likes what he does, is committed, dedicates he sacrifices himself when trying to update himself, while the “bad” is what he doesn’t like what he does, doesn’t look for novelties, in short, what is there for the salary. Some teachers have not fulfilled their role, as they enter the room, sit down and do not teach their classes. Others cannot get out of common sense, maintaining a relationship of dependence on the textbook, which does not bring scientific knowledge to the reality of the classroom.
Based on Student A’s answer, it is inferred that some teachers act as if their profession were a burden, a sacrifice, the worst in the world, thus ceasing to believe in education. They teach classes without planning, use cell phones in the classroom, do not follow rules, in short, they are not good examples for the institution’s students. This is one of the education scenarios of this researched and analyzed institution.
Another scenario that has generated students’ disinterest was the unified curriculum created by the education network of the state of Goiás, in 2013. The school empties knowledge of meaning, fragmenting it to such an extent that it overcomes the demands of each subject and jumping to the next school stage becomes the central objective, while learning represents a very remote possibility. The students’ statements evidence the discouragement of staying in a school whose only existential reason is the content. “With schools being controlled by goals, tasks and performance benchmarks, it’s no wonder that students get bored and teachers feel worn out” (YOUNG, 2007).
The complaint about the classes of some teachers is notorious, which do not present something creative, do not escape the monotony, and do not use resources that will show students that the school space can be seen as something pleasant, interesting and enriching. When perceiving in the teacher this desire to do something different, the student, on the other hand, starts to participate in a motivated and willing way, as if he left passivity and indifference, to put himself in the position of character, agent or, at the very least, , is recognized as someone who needs to give value and return to the teaching effort.
In this way, not only teachers become responsible for the pedagogical work of choosing and planning diversified activities to change the “face” of classes and of the school itself. The entire school team (managers, teachers, students) must be involved in this process. The teacher develops his skills by studying content and teaching strategies, then proposes the participation of all those involved in the teaching-learning process, regarding the structuring, preparation and execution of these activities, in order to give students the opportunity to assume their agent of their learning.
Collective moments are made available for this work, one of which occurs with the elaboration of the Pedagogical Political Project of the school unit, which takes place during the training and planning week at the beginning of the school year. Another takes place in monthly collective meetings, throughout the year, planned for analysis, evaluation and (re)planning of pedagogical actions aimed at guiding, improving and training/informing school teachers.
When the teacher was asked how teaching understands school disinterest, we got the following answer: “There are several factors that contribute to this situation, including poor remuneration and little recognition and appreciation of teachers”. It is noticed that in the face of the situation of neglect, the teacher feels unmotivated to strive to teach more interesting and better planned classes, which reflects on the learning and interest of his student, thus generating a harmful cycle for both.
The salary issue is crucial when dealing with the lack of interest of the professor in the current researched institution. The withdrawal of title, by the government of the state of Goiás, caused a feeling of devaluation of professionals. Thus, it is clear that this attitude reached the teacher in his action. When reflecting on the value of the teacher and his pedagogical action, it is known that the financial issue is a relevant factor. This is because the teacher could have a better salary working for 40 hours per week, instead of working with a maximum workload of 60 hours per week. In this way, the teacher could add other activities of improvement, leisure and social interaction to his daily life. Undoubtedly, he would achieve a transformative teaching practice, as he could dedicate himself more to his craft and seek continuous improvement.
How to minimize school disinterest? The teacher stated that:
é necessário envolver a família na formação dos alunos, cobrando, de forma mais severa, conteúdo e disciplina em sala de aula. Não “aprovar” alunos que não tenham assimilado o conteúdo de forma satisfatória e valorizando o professor enquanto profissional e ser humano.
The educator emphasizes the lack of parental participation as an aggravating factor of students’ lack of interest.
The school has the role of continuing education, which must already come from home with the basic principles taught by parents. Based on the testimony collected in an interview with the school teacher, it is questioned to what extent the family, when conducting their practices towards the conformation of the student, is also responsible for the generation of disinterest. It also seeks to explain the way in which the family acts in the formation of mental schemes and how these operate and manifest themselves over the years in which their children attend school. So, the data analyzed here offer evidence that the family teaches the student, gradually and cumulatively, to be disinterested. If the student does not demonstrate the least education at home, it cannot be expected that he will be different at school. Therefore, the lack of education in the family base also qualifies as one of the symptoms of school disinterest.
On the question: Why does school disinterest happen? The teacher stated that “everything is due to the neglect with which education has been treated by the government, by the teachers themselves, by the students and by the families of the students”. She further added:
Nós, professores, viramos ‘fabricadores de notas’ e, devido a tanta cobrança, acabamos aceitando esse papel e nos acomodamos. A família não dá suporte aos estudantes, não participa de sua vida acadêmica, gerando falta de interesse pelos estudos, atitude que hoje já está banalizada. Outra justificativa refere-se a alunos do turno noturno que, por trabalharem durante o dia, desmotivam-se para o estudo devido ao cansaço.
When dealing with the neglect of how education has been treated, it is possible to perceive that the conceptions of a “good student” are reflected in those of a “bad student”, for which explicit descriptions are found that one is the opposite of the other. According to a teacher cited in the results, “I think the bad student is the one who is not interested, who is not motivated.” This conception conveys the idea that the student is responsible for his interest in the school, leaving the teacher excluded from the task of favoring his interest and promoting his motivation. From this point of view, it would not be necessary for the teacher to stimulate his student, not for lack of resources for this, but because he considers that having an interest is the exclusive responsibility of the student. In this case, it would be necessary, in addition to equipping the teacher, to lead them to reflect and understand their role in the educational process.
Analyzing the answers of the interviewed teacher, it is noticed that she feels not valued by the state and social instances. She emphasizes that the family also does not fulfill the role it should play in relation to the education of the student and, finally, that the vision that the government is having in relation to education is in search of results in numbers and not in quality.
The attributions of students’ interest in the school are related to the family, but also to the activities offered at the school, especially those that are new and attractive to students. It is important to have activities that value the student and his individuality, with the production of more interesting classes and the use of materials related to the student’s daily life. This understanding is consistent with the position of Rubem Alves (2000) when signaling that the scientific content transmitted by the school should not be decontextualized from the students’ lives, otherwise there would be a risk of favoring their lack of interest and, possibly, indiscipline.
Considering the idea that the teacher does not feel valued, the impression one can have is that increasing teachers’ salaries, equipping the school with advanced technologies are measures that would not fully contemplate a possibility of transforming the current reality in the school researched school. You can earn well, but what really matters is the paradigm shift for both the educator and the student.
Teachers must be valued, well paid and have social recognition, however, what is witnessed is the devaluation of the teaching profession and the disrespect on the part of government officials. These records reinforce the teacher malaise described in Almeida and Figueira (1998) which, consequently, interfere in their daily practice. It is confirmed, therefore, that the teacher-student relationship is under the effect of this malaise, which can harm the mediation in the teaching-learning process, thus causing disinterest.
The preparation of teachers is another point that generates school disinterest. Teachers are unmotivated, as they are ill-prepared to deliver the quality education that today’s students crave. They use outdated teaching methodologies, do not seek qualification, do not develop their potential and competences, which causes disinterest in themselves and, by extension, in students. It is necessary, on the part of the teacher, not only to worry about teaching and demanding, but to provide quality and meaningful content so that they can have a true relationship with their students, verifying if they are really learning and what skills and abilities they are developing.
It is known that the family is essential for the development of the individual, regardless of their background. It is in the family environment that the individual has his first contacts with the outside world, with language, with the learning of his first values and habits. Such coexistence is essential for the child to enter the school environment without problems of disciplinary relationship, between him and the others. Society emerges through a successful partnership between families and schools, because in this context, school disinterest is gradually decreasing. However, the lack of dedication of parents to their children in monitoring school activities also corroborates the lack of interest in school.
Family structure influences student learning. It is known that not all students belong to a family that has sufficient economic conditions for the dignified education of their children. When the researched teacher cites the family issue as something that generates students’ disinterest, the possible interpretation that can be made is that the dysfunctional family is generating a gap in terms of students’ interest in the study. When this family paradigm does not meet the needs of their children, children with large gaps appear and, at the same time, they come to the school hoping that it will be able to meet their desires.
2.3.1 MOTIVATION
It is known that the development of skills and abilities related to technology is a relevant factor to combat school disinterest. But there are teachers stuck to outdated teaching methodologies, with no interest in looking for new ways to develop their students’ skills, which means the lack of dynamism in the methodology. There is a mismatch between the way young people think today and the way classes are planned/delivered. It is necessary to recreate the way of teaching, in a more challenging and dynamic way, so that these teachers are able to attract the attention of young people, as a way of minimizing school disinterest.
The ideal would be to guarantee the educator’s involvement with the school and with the teacher-student relationship, so that there can be meaningful learning. Valente (2001) states that teachers need to prepare for the challenges arising from the insertion of new technologies in educational practice. But, before any technology is applied to the classroom, it is necessary to prophylactically motivate teachers and their educational practice. Based on the second question: What should school be like for you to enjoy and stay motivated? The student (A) replied: “the school should have teachers who are totally dedicated to teaching, with classes that would avoid the books, with debates inside the classroom”. Already, stated the student (B): “the school should be a place to present something new, directed to the student’s interest in learning”.
Analyzing this issue, it is interesting that the problem detected is focused on the methodology and didactics that the school must offer to the students. It is known that in traditional teaching there is a practice in which teachers explain in an expository way all the content at once, then the proposed tasks are performed. This is a pedagogical practice that needs to be modified, because, in order to learn, the student needs to think about the content or the topic studied, to debate what is being passed as truth in many classes. The school has to be the place to create ways to develop learning in students. The school should be the space of creation.
For Kupfer (1992, p. 79), “[…] the learning process depends on the reason that motivates the search for knowledge”, highlighting the reason for its importance. Students need to be provoked, so that they feel the need to learn, and not teachers “pour” notions that apparently do not concern them over their heads.
The way of presenting the content, therefore, can act in the opposite direction, causing a lack of desire to learn, which represents, for students, the distance that is placed between the content and the reality of their lives. If the student doesn’t see how knowledge can help him, how can he want something that seems useless to him?
It is noticed that the classes (methodologies, resources, strategies, etc.) have not enchanted the students as they should, to “seduce” the students, involve their family and the community itself for personal, social and economic reasons, it seems impossible to gain the attention/concentration necessary for the assimilation of what is being explained, taught, investigated, discussed and produced.
The school community needs to present a political-pedagogical proposal aimed at the challenges facing the current youth, and reflect on a possible link between its pedagogical proposal and the students’ desire to receive an innovative education. By doing so, she can gradually minimize the disinterest of her target audience. For this, the school must speak the language of young people; understand their way of thinking in the present society; work on current topics of interest to students; promote the teaching of students from everyday life; bring the school closer to the students’ universe and develop extracurricular activities. In this way, it is possible to encourage young people to reflect on the importance of being in school and completing high school.
2.3.2 SCHOOL INSTITUTION
The last question asked to the students was: Is the school an interesting or uninteresting institution? Because? Student (A), when answering this question, stated that:
A instituição está meio a meio, porque tem algumas aulas que despertam o interesse dos alunos, principalmente essas aulas com temas atuais que despertam o pensamento crítico dos alunos, fazendo com que haja contradições de ideias e isso faz uma aula interessante.
Student (B) stated that “there is a little bit of each, as there are parts that show interest and others that do not”.
The school environment exerts a lot of influence to reduce the lack of interest in studies. The school becomes uninteresting, as it does not encourage students to develop a critical vision of the future, which would contribute to an increase in school performance and interest in studies. Increasingly, students need to be made aware of the importance of staying in school. By assimilating a typical language of contemporary young people and being in tune with the universe of this young person, it is possible to make the school an interesting place. Encouraging them to experience new methodologies that dialogue with the contents taught and seeking interdisciplinarity, it is possible to make the school a pleasant place to be to learn.
There are teaching methods that, instead of helping and fighting disinterest, harm learning. Therefore, it is essential to bring certain sports, cultural and social activities to the school environment that allow students to integrate with a world different from that where the contents of the curriculum are. This new world is capable of forming a more intellectual and humanized individual, considering that, when the teacher seeks to open space in his classes for these activities, he gives his listeners the opportunity to understand that the school can teach without the student being seated all the time, without it being something mechanical and tiring.
The main challenge of the school unit is to think as a guide between its pedagogical political proposal and school disinterest. It is necessary that the entire framework of education professionals mobilize to seek new alternatives for new problems. The school must create new strategies to combat school disinterest and actions that address the new needs of the students.
3. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The current research had as its theme the causes of the lack of interest in the school of students of the 1st grade of the High School of Colégio Estadual Xavier de Almeida, with a view to detecting, verifying, analyzing and diagnosing some factors that contribute to the occurrence of this lack of interest in students who are starting the High school. Such research is relevant to point out effective actions to combat school disinterest, which compromises the success of the researched school.
Within the perspective of analysis of results related to the research theme and returning to the guiding question: what makes students lose interest in classes and, consequently, in school? It is concluded that the lack of interest permeates issues related to the students; relatives; the fragile motivation of teachers in their pedagogical praxis; and the school institution itself.
To combat school disinterest in this student cycle, it is necessary to motivate these students, who for the most part, do not have adequate family structure to offer effective participation in their training, in favor of a promising future. It is understood, with the present work, that, in order to combat the lack of interest in the school community, it is necessary to promote diversified activities, encouragement from the teachers, interesting classes and the participation of the family.
The presentation of themes and contents that arouse curiosity and respect for the individuality of each student, can favor mutual knowledge and strengthen the interaction between these subjects, favoring the process of appreciation that the teacher attributes to himself and his students, providing opportunities for the growth of students as critical and reflective subjects. Undoubtedly, the teacher-student relationship interferes with the student’s interest in classes. If it is a healthy relationship, it is likely that the student’s interest in the school environment is established, for the learning that takes place there; otherwise, the relationship generates disinterest on the part of both students and teachers. In this context of teacher-student relationship, affection plays a key role in the teaching-learning process.
When dealing with motivation as a way to combat disinterest, it was found that the teacher, for the most part, has not been able to speak the language of his students. It is known, as shown in this work, that the student yearns for the teacher to prepare diversified, creative classes, that is, that approach their youthful language. So, it is up to the teacher to want to learn this language so that the learning process is successful. Making the student want to learn is the teacher’s role together with the school. Today, we live in the technological age and the school and its teachers must update themselves in this language that students already master and, by the way, quite easily.
You can’t offer retrograde methods, while the current youth craves something new. The constant use of blackboard and brush certainly generates disinterest in the class, the teacher, studies and school. In this aspect, we emphasize that the educator and the school become, together with their families and students, subjects responsible for combating and minimizing the disinterest of these students.
Teachers can prepare interesting activities, encourage students to ask questions, find answers, since well-prepared classes will arouse students’ interest in learning. Thus, the student can rediscover his interest in learning; the act of studying would be successful, as the student would find ways to apply the knowledge acquired in their individual and social life history.
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[1] Master’s in Professional Theology. Postgraduate in Philosophy and existence; Pedagogical Coordination; Teaching in Higher Education; Psychopedagogy. Bachelor in theology; Degree in Philosophy, Pedagogy and History.
Sent: November, 2021.
Approved: January, 2022.
