Identity, difference, and power: school narratives about “success or failure” of students

Abstract

Investigating the school education of children from the earliest years, enrolled in public schools, at a time when we see defenses or criticisms of contemporary educational institutions, is to reflect the new ways of teaching and learning in an unequal society. The study aims to understand how primary school teachers working in public schools conceive and narrate students considered examples of success or failure. The research, in a post-structuralist perspective, is based on narrative interviews, directed to teachers of the early years, recorded, transcribed and examined by the perspective of discourse analysis, with Foucaultian references. The reflections provided by Foucault and his followers make up the theoretical foundation, highlighting notions such as subjectivation and power. The study concludes that teachers often adopt stereotypes in characterizing what they consider successful or unsuccessful students. Legal, media, educational and pedagogical discourses praise inclusive school and education for all, but the narratives highlight the belief that teaching is successful, predominantly, when the child follows school rules and the family have a good background, as also as attend school, disregarding social inequalities and the challenges of contemporary society/family. The difference in school causes teacher estrangement, since the expectation is predominantly of identity, from equal times and spaces for all, and standardized syllabuses.