INTRODUCTION

Scientific events generally reserve space in their schedule for a type of activity in which congressmen extrapolate the usual listener position and share the responsibility for carrying out the work. That is, workshops. In reality, this educational modality is not restricted to academic meetings, nor to any specific field of knowledge. Workshops are held in a wide variety of educational contexts: in universities, schools, hospitals, clinics, parks, on the street. However, when consulting scientific literature, we noticed that few publications are dedicated to conceptualizing them: texts predominate in which workshops are the means for the development of a theme, hardly the object of study in question.

In view of these considerations, we prepared this study based on a bibliographic survey on workshops. This endeavor comes from the doctoral thesis “Comedy or If a workshop in a doctoral thesis or Notes...”, defended by the first author of this study, whose purpose is to argue in favor of the practice of workshops as an emancipatory educational modality, from conducting reading and writing workshops based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

We intend, from the studies gathered here, to discuss the various meanings referring to the term workshop, how they are organized and shown to the participants, as they vary according to purposes and spaces of realization. It is noteworthy that, because it is a survey obtained from search tools and databases of varied scientific journals, the researched articles sometimes reveal different points of view on the subject.

The survey was conducted from the Sucupira Platform by Fundação Capes (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Nível Superior - https://sucupira.capes.gov.br)³ . In it, it is possible to consult the journals evaluated by field of knowledge. For this survey, we selected the journals classified among strata A1-B2 in the Quadrienium Classification Event 2013-2016, Education assessment area. From this list, in April 2016, we accessed, one by one, the electronic addresses of classified journals. On the search screen, we searched for the term “workshop” in the title, abstract, or keywords of the articles. All those articles that resulted from this search process were included in folders, organized by journal for further analysis.

It is noteworthy that not all journals returned articles that met our search criteria; in addition, some journals did not even have search engines on their websites, or apparently had failed to execute the search request. In such cases, invariably, such journals were discarded from the scope of the research. The option to use Sucupira Platform over Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) is because we understand that many Brazilian journals are not indexed in this scientific collection platform.

Subsequently, we read the articles. Those who had the term “workshop” without the details of the proposal executed or that referred directly to a workplace, a proper noun, and whose bias was not educational, were excluded. At the end, 256 articles were analyzed.

These 256 articles were classified according to the workshop execution methodology. We distinguished the following methodological categories: didactic workshop, artistic workshop, job workshop, pedagogical workshop, therapeutic workshop and reading and writing workshop. Although the methodological execution of the same workshop may bring artistic and didactic elements, for example, in our view, each workshop has the predominance of one of the components, hence the insertion in this or that category.

However, before the background of each methodological group is described more fully, we will divert the focus of the discussion to show some quantitative data that illustrate the current panorama on the development of workshops in Brazil.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Once in possession of the 256 surveyed articles, which had the term “workshop” either in the title, abstract or keywords, they were organized into a spreadsheet in order to facilitate obtaining the desired information through filters.

The first feature we consider is the year of publication of the articles. The chart below corresponds to the distribution of publications over time:

As soon as we look at the chart, we notice the increase in the number of publications from the year 2007. We attribute this slight growth, among other reasons, to the fact that it coincides with the advent of online dissemination of scientific journals, initiating the tendency to encourage publication in this format, rather than the conventional one, in print.

Even so, some magazines have digitalized their printed collection and, for this reason, we have noticed the practice of workshops as an educational modality in Brazil since 1988, with the publication of the article Workshop on Literary Creation by Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil, in Letras de Hoje, a PUC-RS publication. There was then a production gap until the early 1990s, interrupted by the publication of Physics Workshops: An Experience in Continuing Education, by Eduardo Adolfo Terrazzan and Ernst Wolfgang Hamburger, in the Brazilian Journal of Physics Education in 1992. From then on, with the exception of 1993 and 1995, we found at least one study published per year to date. However, it should be emphasized, once again, that the material analyzed in this investigation results from articles available online, that is, we cannot affirm the inexistence of publications prior to the year 1988, since they may have occurred via print editions not yet digitalized.

In this early period, the 1990's, we highlight 1997, with six publications, a relatively larger amount than the other years. This fact stems from the release of issue 27, volume 15, of the Perspectiva journal, edited by the Federal University of Santa Catarina, whose title is Libertarian Pedagogy, where half of the twelve articles published mention the use of workshops as an educational strategy.

As for geographic distribution, the chart below lists the number of articles per Brazilian federative unit.

Note the simple scientific production that refers to workshops in the Northern Region of Brazil (2.44% of the total). Only three states (Pará, Rondônia and Tocantins) reported the occurrence of studies, and only the state of Pará, in this region of the country, has more than one article. Acre, Amapá, Amazonas and Roraima did not compute a single article.

All states in the Central-West Region showed studies in this scope, although not many (4.45% of the total). Federal District stands out, due to the articles produced by the University of Brasília and the Catholic University of Brasilia.

The scientific production, in this aspect, intensifies from the Northeast Region (12.55% of the total). Although the state of Maranhão does not have any studies, all other states have publications, and only the state of Alagoas has only one registered article. Bahia stands out for being the state with the highest occurrence of studies outside the Southern portion of the country, due to institutions such as the Federal University of Bahia and Santa Cruz State University, with three publications each. However, regarding the Northeastern institution with the largest number of articles, the post goes for the Federal University of Paraíba, with four.

Statistically, one in three studies addressing workshops comes from the South Region (34.82% of the total). Half of them are produced in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, that is, forty-three articles. The institutions that contributed the most to this index were the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (9 articles), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (8 articles), the Federal University of Santa Maria (7 articles) and the Federal University of Pelotas (6 articles). Paraná and Santa Catarina are states with similar quantities of productions, 22 and 21, respectively. In Paraná, institutions run by the state itself stand out, the State University of Maringá (7 articles) and the State University of Londrina (4 articles). Santa Catarina contains the institution with the second highest index of publications on workshops on a national scale, the University of Santa Catarina (18 articles).

Finally, the Southeast Region, with a productivity rate slightly lower than half of the national general (45.74% of the total). Espírito Santo is the state with the least amount of studies, with only 3 articles, all derived from the Federal University of Espírito Santo. Then, Minas Gerais has 12 articles, five of which originated at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Rio de Janeiro, with 34 articles, is the third largest state in terms of publications, fourteen of which come from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. São Paulo is the state that most produced studies referring to workshops, with 64 articles. Practically two thirds of this amount (40 articles) comes from the three state-run universities, the University of São Paulo (22 articles), the São Paulo State University (10 articles) and the University of Campinas (8 articles).

We also highlight the scientific production of foreign authors whose articles were published in Brazilian journals. Portuguese journals evaluated by CAPES were also used in the survey:

The holding of workshops as a way of performing Education has, in theory, certain particularities: freedom of creation and autonomy of execution, among others. From this premise derives the multiplicity of objectives, achievements, perspectives, etc. that a workshop can encompass.

We sought to group the articles surveyed according to the way the workshops were conducted, categorizing them. However, this categorization is not intended to restrict the scope of action of a particular workshop; on the contrary. The same workshop can even have characteristics that indicate different categories. However, when analyzing the articles individually, we chose to fit them into a single category, according to the aspects that, in our view, best reflected the workshop proposal. In this study, we distinguish seven categories of articles explicitly explained by the mode of implementation:

The following graph shows the distribution of articles according to categories:

FROM ARTICLES TO WORKSHOPS

Below, we will portray the workshop categories, one by one, in descending order in relation to the quantity of works, from citations extracted from the articles that compose this study. Before the description, however, we have included a brief synthesis, between parenthesis, to drive understanding of the category as a whole.

WORKSHOPS: SPACES IN PRODUCTION

Of the 256 analyzed studies, six of them were classified as empirical articles, that is, those that study the term workshop as an educational alternative, although they do not use or propose the execution of a specific workshop to argue in favor of this educational modality.

Bernardina ^{Leal (2006}), in an article entitled Workshop, promotes the practice of workshops, although recognizing that, because it is “always less formal than the usual school and academic dimensions, more active and provocative” (ibid, p. 69), it turns out not being duly recognized, as it “diverges from the well-known academic work legitimized by the characteristics of isolation, detachment and privacy” (Ibid, p. 70). In contrast, according to the author, the workshop “materializes (...) the art of involvement” (Ibid, p.70), since “It occupies public spaces. It is collective. It exposes itself. It does not fear being contaminated by people. On the contrary, it needs them. It consists of words, ideas, emotions and feelings lacking bodies to embody” (ibid, p.70). However, this group practice, an essential feature of any workshop, brings, according to the author, an apparent contradiction, since it “is collective, in that it welcomes common, intersubjective meanings, but is also individuating, because it requires thinking that do not repeat or imitate another's, a thinking as free as possible” (ibid, p. 72). Also according to the author, it is the result of this confrontation of collective and individuating aspects between, which is “the proper space of the workshop. It is still its appeal to us: come in, get in, dare. Come with us. Be my guest. Come in among us” (ibid, p. 73). Finally, the author emphasizes the premise of involvement that a workshop demands from its participants: “You cannot attend it from outside, like a lecture. In a workshop, one enters or does not enter, nor understands the appeal. We answer the call. We are the incoming” (ibid, p.73).

Maria Oly ^{Pey (1997}), in the article Workshop as an educational modality, enters the school universe by discussing the potentialities of using workshops in formal teaching spaces. From the outset, she states that the modality “breaks with the disciplinary school functioning of time because the Workshop does not fit the rhythms and temporal routines of formal education” (Ibid, p. 47). In addition, she reiterates that the workshop also breaks with the curricular organization: “It is an educational process that ignores evaluation as judgment and the truth policy of school content” (ibid, p. 47). This is because, according to the author, “the production of the Workshop does not start from the reproduction of knowledge, but from the production of a knowledge of resistance to disciplinary knowledge” (ibid., p. 47). The author argues that the theoretical-methodological foundation is based on what she understands as a project-process, in which “the workshop defines itself with initial objectives, but does not close the circuit of the possible exploration of knowledge” (ibid, p.50). Such an opening stems from the fact that the same workshop project will never be applied identically, “because each new group that works with it adds unique facets of understanding and research” (ibid, p.50). In conclusion, the author emphasizes the intellectual production character of the workshops: “They involve natural experience (knowledge) and thought experience (reflection) to produce work that materializes in products and/or authorship” (ibid, p. 51).

Graciela ^{Ormezzano (2006}), in the article Visual language in special education, addresses the use of workshops for the mentally disabled public. Although the study has this specificity, we understand that the statements shown by her can also contribute to the general argument about the practice of workshops:

In the space-time of the workshop, personal and interpersonal experiences are promoted, based on a creative and driving action for the development of the four basic functions of consciousness: thought, feeling, sensation and intuition (^{ORMEZZANO, 2006}, p.277).

In addition to privileging cognitive functions, the author emphasizes the relationship of equality that is established between people in a workshop, regarding the role of teachers and the breakdown of hierarchy with participants:

The modality of the workshop is opposed to the traditional ways of educating, it is defined by group production and rejects the teacher's authority as the only way of knowing, promoting social intelligence and collective creativity, in which the teacher is one of the group, a facilitator, a work advisor (Ibid, p.277).

The remaining three articles move towards a perspective of therapeutic workshops, focused on the health and well-being of the participants. Teresa Cristina Paulino de ^{Mendonça (2005}), in the article Workshops on mental health: report of an experience in hospitalization, addresses the use of these educational practices within psychiatric hospitals. For the author, the workshops “seek to move towards, allowing the subject to establish bonds of self-care, work and affection with others, determining the political-social purpose associated with the clinic” (Ibid, p. 628). In this sense, with activities planned in such a way that the participants turn their eyes to themselves, they “come to be seen as an instrument for enriching the subjects, valuing expression, discovering and expanding individual possibilities and access to cultural goods” (ibid, p.628). Following, the author is dedicated to describing the function of the workshop coordinator, which is “to welcome the sounds, the speech, the forms, the acts, stating that there is a subject there with something to say and do, with interest for this something and striving for meaning in this doing” (ibid., p. 631). Naturally, as these therapeutic workshops are conducted in hospitals, the author aims at coordinators working in the health area; however, we understand that her description of the coordinating function includes other categories of workshop, since she states that:

Coordinating a workshop is listening to a language that is often wordless, through which these productions can institute channels of exchange and encounter and create new existential universes. Activities should be designed, planned and guided by ethical and aesthetic parameters and by an interdisciplinary team, conciliating the various discourses (^{MENDONÇA, 2005}, p.631).

Ana Carolina de Assis Moura ^{Ghirardi and Léslie Piccolotto Ferreira (2010}), in the article Voice workshops: reflection on speech therapy practice, continue with the discussion about workshops applied in the health field, but in this specific case, in speech therapy clinics. According to the authors, the workshops “mostly seek to unite health, social life and culture, and transform the concept of health, as well as the concepts of health, quality of life and inclusion” (ibid, p. 170). However, due to the fact that the workshops are widely used in the health area, but without any programmatic systematization, the authors observed that, in this field, “the workshops have been shown as a diverse construction space, and consequently with some terminological undefinition” (ibid. 170). This lack of definition is highlighted in the extensive survey on the practice of workshops in the speech-language field shown by the authors, concluding that “it can be evidenced that some educational initiatives, by using the name ‘workshop’, probably intend to highlight the difference between this modality and lectures, since workshops include body and vocal practices with the participants” (ibid, p. 171).

Finally, Ariadne ^{Cedraz and Magda Dimenstein (2005}), in the article Therapeutic Workshops in the Psychiatric Reform Scenario: Deinstitutionalizing Modalities or Not?, debate, also in the field of health, if therapeutic workshops indeed contribute to the participants' emancipation. In a very critical study, the authors, at first, show their view on the function of these educational practices; according to them, workshops “need to follow the same paths as creative processes, since they are intended to accommodate singularities” (ibid, p. 309). However, their research led them to state that “(...) despite being interesting, transformative, mobilizing — therapeutic or not — workshops take a place in the everyday gear which, instead of giving way to other possible worlds, it feeds back the machine of production of subjectivities that agency the occupation of minds in order to exercise productive and continuous vigilance” (ibid, p. 315). Thus, despite the benefits that are usually announced when a workshop is offered, the authors have found that they can also act to effect control over the subjects, and they conclude by arguing that “the workshop can be many things but a device disciplinarian whose function is to produce subjects who behave according to what society expects" (Ibid, p. 317).

CONCLUSION

Although we have raised a wide range of works related to the practice of workshops as an educational modality (256 articles), the detailed reading of these texts shows that the definition of the term workshop as a concept in the field of education is far from reaching consensus.

We understand that the difficulty of determining what is a workshop arises precisely from the freedom of creation of its coordinator and the potential for action of those who participate. After all, it becomes emblematic to establish definition criteria for a practice itself, free of standardized settings.

In fact, the only premise for conducting a workshop is to bring together a group of people willing to develop it. In addition, there are no restrictions on location, age, gender, profession, field of knowledge, etc. Evidently, depending on the object to be discussed, there is a tendency to group people interested in the respective theme.

In a simple effort to systematize, we seek to group the workshops into categories: workshops, artistic workshops, didactic workshops, pedagogical workshops, therapeutic workshops and reading and writing workshops. As we reiterated earlier, certain workshops may contain elements that indicate more than one category, but, according to their objectives and modes of implementation, we chose to fit them into the category that stood out. Opting for direct citation of articles, rather than a more explanatory description on our part, is justified since we understand that it emphasizes the authors' arguments and illustrates their views on workshop planning, organization and execution.

We realize that the workshops operate in a more structured way in the Health field. Many of the analyzed articles were conducted in hospitals, clinics and, in particular, in Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS). Although we are not qualified to point out the appropriate reasons, since our view is focused on the field of Education, the reading of the respective articles suggests that the increase in the practice of workshops derives, in part, from the implementation of the Unified Health System (SUS) and the achievements of the anti-asylum struggle movement.

In the field of Education, we see from this review the possibility of workshops as effective spaces for knowledge production, because it is clear from the analyzed articles that the educational moments derived from these practices are conceptualized in the triangle “encounter, event, experience”. That is, an innovative education that goes beyond the mere transmission of knowledge which and seeks, through experimentation, to bring participants to the center of the proposition: beyond the issue of protagonism, to make them co-responsible for educational action.

In addition to this idea of education by the community, we argue for ways of doing that involve almost equal positions of power (and, consequently, emancipation) between the coordinating workshoppers and the performinh participants, combining spaces of freedom of creation and autonomy of execution, whence the multiplicity of objectives, achievements, perspectives, etc.