Introduction

This article aims to identify the problematizations conducted in Brazil, in the years 2014 to 2018, regarding education and citizenship, with the purpose of mapping the state of the art and presenting the contributions of the analyzed papers.

The interest in this theme arose due to the challenge of an education focused on citizenship, which is able to promote the formation of critical citizens and implementers of changes, able to claim their rights and intervene in reality to transform it.

Right at the outset, it should be noted that the concept of citizenship gains prominence in the context of the bourgeois revolutions, especially with the French Revolution of 1789. According to ^{Pacheco (2015}), the bourgeoisie was enriched, although excluded from social and political rights by the decadent aristocracy and, for this reason, it takes on the struggle for equal rights.

This struggle for full citizenship was basically summarized in freedom (political rights), equality (social rights) and property (economic rights). Only the realization of these three dimensions characterizes full citizenship. (^{PACHECO, 2015}, p. 30).

In this regard, it is known that the right to education is essential to achieve the other rights. Thus, “the absence of an educated population has always been one of the main obstacles to the construction of civil and political citizenship”. (^{CARVALHO, 2002}, p. 11).

Furthermore, it is essential to enable full citizen training articulated to the interests of the Brazilian youth, daughter of the working class. This reality has provoked the challenge of apprehending and recognizing that the young people who arrive at school bring all their experience produced in the multiple spaces of society. On the other hand, when entering the school context, their are usually submitted to the process of homogenized training that aims to regulate the teaching-learning behaviors and conditions, as presented by ^{Caú (2017}).

In order to break with the vision of the homogenization training process, “sociocultural studies emphasize the diversity in the expression of youth (youth cultures) and highlight the diversity of what is youth (youth identities)”. (^{ALPÍZAR; BERNAL, 2005}, p. 28). In this way, youth is now seen as part of a social group that shares desires, wills and purposes and, therefore, lacks the opportunity to experience and exchange a collection of experiences in order to expand their conditions of choice (^{CAÚ, 2017}).

In this regard, ^{Carrano and Martins (2011}) report the need for the school and its teachers to open listening spaces to understand the identities and behaviors of youth.

Through the elaboration of common languages, the school can regain its prestige among young people, as well as the pleasure of them being in a place they can call their own in so far as they are recognized as culture-producing subjects. (^{CARRANO; MARTINS, 2011}, p. 54).

In this context, as observed by ^{Dayrell, Leão and Reis (2007}), the student condition is an alternative that may or may not be incorporated by the young person. For this reason, implications for the relations between the high school and the young people/students, for example, reflect the absence of listening channels as one of the factors of youth and school distancing.

This lack of listening channels contributes to the insufficient link between the formative process and the real needs and interests of youth, reflecting the low participation of students in decision-making processes. In view of this, it is essential to seek to overcome the little, or even absent, dialogue in decision making related to the school context. Thus, in view of the social purpose of the school, a training that encourages citizenship in this environment should be proposed.

In this perspective, when recognizing the distance, in the experience of school life, between the assertion of reflection and the experience of significant practices, it shows the possibility of bringing the interests of young people closer to the purposes proposed for this very important stage in the formation of young people (^{DAYRELL, LEÃO and REIS, 2007}; KRAWCZYK, 2009).

This way, when the school is reconsidered apart from the idea of a selection mechanism, it presents itself as a space for socialization, participation, dialogue and exchanges of interactions between generations. Recognizing the youth that constitutes it and incorporating its culture.

In view of this, the forms of participation and the definitions of the directions that interfere in the construction of the life projects of thousands of young Brazilians are becoming increasingly significant. In this way, it contributes to the direction of systematic training processes in stimulating students’ self-determination in search of legitimated full citizenship.

Accordingly, it is necessary for pedagogical spaces, whether formal or non-formal, to enable participation and freedom of opinion. Thus, ^{Gadotti (1993}) highlights that education for citizenship cannot be limited to an schedule program, that is, it is not to instill a model for students to take it through life, it must be put into practice in the school environment.

In this sense, ^{Gadotti (2014}, p. 4) argues that “We train for participation by participating, facing the technical and political challenges of participation. Participation is political-pedagogical achievement”. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the organization of the pedagogical space in order to enable the effective participation of students, since through this they can develop a critical awareness of the role they play in society.

According to ^{Caú (2017}), the school acts as an important institution in the socialization of youth and in the formation of new generations. Therefore, it has the current challenge of promoting participation and decision-making strategies that make the learning process meaningful for students, even in the face of the adversities of the current mode of production.

Thus, it is worth emphasizing the importance of a formative process that strives for a quality, democratic education and that is significant for the vast majority of the children of the working class who attend Brazilian school. In this regard, it is also emphasized that this education must be closer to the interests and effective needs of students, especially young people, considering that, normally, curricula, program contents, have little relation to their interests. In this regard, according to ^{Carrano (2010}, p. 145) the young people “denounce that what is offered to them as knowledge presents little practicality for the challenges they need to face in the labour market”.

From this overview, the dissertations and theses that dialogued with the approach proposed by the research carried out and presented in this article were selected. First, the objective data of the selected papers were mapped and analyzed, through the quantification and identification of bibliographic data. Subsequently, in-depth readings of these papers were carried out in order to present their contributions, based on the problems, conclusions and other relevant observations.

Methodological pathway

The work developed is characterized as a bibliographic research, because, according to ^{Gil (2008}), this type of research is based on the contributions of several authors on a given subject. In this way, the papers called state of the art result from a bibliographic research and, according to ^{Ferreira (2002}), present an inventive and descriptive methodology on the theme that is proposed to be investigated.

Thus, the relevance of the state of the art is highlighted in order to identify the problems already carried out in the academic literature and, in this way, point out the approximations between them and the gaps to be investigated. Furthermore, according to ^{Marconi and Lakatos (2011}), the citation of the main conclusions reached by other authors makes it possible to highlight the contribution of the research carried out.

The papers were selected from the consultation of the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) which “integrates and disseminates, in a single search portal, the complete texts of the theses and dissertations defended in Brazilian edicational and research institutions”. (BDTD, 2019)

This repository, created in 2002, is coordinated by the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT). Currently, it has 116 participating institutions, 152.525 theses and 422.244 dissertations, whose access is free of any costs. (BDTD, 2019)

In the bibliographic survey, carried out until July 2019, the following parameters were used to map the dissertations and theses: a) source: Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations; b) descriptor used: “education and citizenship”; c) language: Portuguese; d) publication period: years 2014 to 2018.

The delimitation of the period from 2014 is justified by the publication of Law n° 13.005/2014, which approved the National Education Plan (PNE). The PNE has, among its guidelines, presented in art. 2nd, the “V - training for work and citizenship, with an emphasis on the moral and ethical values on which society is based”, as well as “VI - promotion of the principle of democratic management of public education”. (BRASIL, 2014)

In addition, Law nº 12.852/2013 (in force in 2014), which instituted the Youth Statute, presents in chapter II, which deals with the rights of young people, section 1: “From the Right to Citizenship, to Social and Political Participation and Youth Representation”. (BRASIL, 2013)

The aforementioned law, in art. 4th - single paragraph, understand by youth participation “I - the inclusion of young people in public and community spaces from their conception as active agents, free, responsible and worthy of occupying a central position in social and political processes;”. (BRASIL, 2013)

Thus, considering the definition of the parameters, the search resulted in 47 papers. Then, the dissertations and theses were analyzed based on their respective titles and abstracts. From this, exclusion criteria were defined for the selection of papers, considering that the present article focuses on citizenship in its political dimension.

In this perspective, papers that dealt with citizenship in the environmental, social, cultural scope and those whose object of study was a country other than Brazil were disregarded. Thus, 17 papers were classified, including 7 theses and 10 dissertations.

Overview of bibliographic data

In this article’s section, the objective data of the selected papers will be mapped and analyzed. Thus, according to ^{Ferreira (2002}), there will be an interaction with academic production through the quantification and identification of bibliographic data, with the purpose of mapping the papers in a delimited period, in years, locations, production areas.

In view of the above, the 17 selected papers were cataloged in a spreadsheet editor, considering the following data: title, course, year, institution of origin, state of the federation, region, subject and methodology. Based on this, it was possible to build some analytical designs, using graphics, as shown below:

Source: Own authorship

Graph 1 Distribution of selected papers by year and type of publication 

Source: Own authorship

Graph 2 Distribution of selected papers by state and region of Brazil 

On the basis of graphs 1 and 2, considering the exclusion criteria used for selection, it was found that over the five years analyzed, the number of papers that discussed “education and citizenship” was approximate, ranging from 2 to 5, with emphasis on 2018 that had 5 papers.

Furthermore, the Southeast of Brazil was the region with the largest number of papers, with the State of São Paulo responsible for 90% of the total in the region and more than 50% of the total of jobs across the country. It is interesting to note that, in the analyzed period, the North region did not publish any paper regarding the category under analysis.

Source: Own authorship

Graph 3 Distribution of papers by institution of origin 

According to graph 3, the State University of São Paulo and the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo were the Institutions with the largest number of publications, followed by the Regional University of the Northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and the University of São Paulo.

Source: Own authorship

Graph 4 Distribution of papers by type of publication and by course 

As shown in Graph 4, more than 50% of the papers are concentrated in doctorate or master’s courses in Education, in addition to the master’s in School Education. Secondly, there were courses in the area of Law, with two doctorates and a master’s degree. We highlight two master’s courses, namely: Culture and Society and in Public Health, since despite being in different areas they presented the theme education and citizenship in their research.

Regarding the methodological approach, most of the research was qualitative, with only two quali-quantitative. As for the type, bibliographic and documentary researches predominated. Still, the papers presented approximations regarding the theoretical framework. In general, it was identified that 11 of the 17 papers cited the author Hannah Arendt. This is explained, since “the concept of citizenship for Hannah Arendt is exclusively related to political participation in the decision-making sphere of power (public sphere), in which the citizen is termed “a political being”” (^{SCHÜTZ, 2016}, p. 7).

Similarly, the author Paulo Freire was cited in 12 papers, considering that this author “encourages the liberating, critical, and problematizing education of social reality, in which the person does not simply accept the current social and political order, but writes his own history and that of his country”. (^{COSTA, 2016}, p. 166).

To close this first part of the article, the references of the selected papers, organized by region of Brazil (from the region with the largest number of works to the one with the lowest number) and by year (from the oldest to the most current) are mentioned below. In this way, it will be possible to view in a consolidated way the data of each dissertation or thesis that were fragmented for the elaboration of the graphs presented above.

Qualitative research findings

In this stage of in-depth studies of the selected papers, according to ^{Ferreira (2002}), the researcher seeks to answer, in addition to the questions “when”, “where” and “who”, to those questions related to the “what” and the “how” of the papers.

To this end, ^{Ferreira (2002}) reports that the researcher faces several difficulties, such as, for example, abstracts of papers that are poorly elaborated or incomplete, so there is a need to access the research in its entirety.

Therefore, in general, readings of the abstracts, introductions and conclusions of the research were carried out, in order to identify the problems, the results and other pertinent observations. At first, according to “Chart 2”, the approaches of the selected papers will be presented, considering the same order of presentation of the papers set out in “Chart 1” and, soon after, the analyzes of each thesis and dissertation.

^{Gomes (2014}), in his dissertation, sought to identify the social representations of students about school practices that contribute or not to citizen education. In the end, the author realizes that the concept of citizenship is still abstract for students participating in the research, as well as there are few spaces in which they can enjoy the practice of citizen training.

Lisbon’s dissertation (2014) presented health councils as essential channels for social participation. In his conclusion, the author stated, among other things, that social participation and democracy are essential for the construction of health policies that correspond to the real needs of the community. In addition, he affirms the relevance of citizenship education programs for the subjects involved in these participation spaces.

In turn, ^{Macedo’s thesis (2014}), which discussed education, citizenship and democracy, concluded that to rescue democratic values it is necessary to promote the participation of citizens and make them understand that in addition to adherence, reciprocity and commitment to the rights of all and to the purposes of the State. For that, it is essential to develop social capital (connections between individuals/network society) through an education focused on citizenship.

^{Macedo (2014}) presented us a very current topic, the network society. According to the author, this tool, as a result of the information age, enables the dissemination and clarification of rights, expands the debates and expressions of opinions, allows the integration of citizens to act in common objectives.

^{Carvalho (2015}) discussed in her thesis the conditions and challenges of training for citizenship in distance education. The author came to the conclusion that the challenges for a citizen formation is not a question of modality, but of facing practices and principles contrary to the process of awareness by the subjects.

^{Dias (2015}), in her thesis, dealt with the configuration of democratic management in Brazilian education. The author concluded that the conception of democratic management was not successful in Brazilian society, since the public space was reduced and the private space was expanded, through the implementation of neoliberal politics in Brazil. In this way, democratic management was reduced to school management, resembling business administration.

In ^{Stering’s thesis (2015}) there was the defense of the idea that the Program for the Integration of Professional Education into High School in the Youth and Adult Education Modality (Proeja) develops a humanist, critical and citizen education. Thus, the author presented that Proeja, before enabling the insertion of man in the job market, allows the subject to be aware of his ability to act and transform the space where he lives.

In turn, ^{Costa’s dissertation (2016}) had as its central theme the construction of active citizenship based on human rights education. The author presented that this education has among its purposes to instruct the individual in political rights in a participatory perspective. Thus, the work showed that the exercise of citizenship is only made possible by education, since the individual appropriates the necessary knowledge to fight for his rights and fulfill his duties.

^{Teixeira’s thesis (2016}) highlighted the issue regarding the effectiveness of constitutional norms with regard to the principle of the Democratic Rule of Law and the fundamental rights to education and citizenship. From this, the author poinst out that education for the exercise of citizenship is essential for the establishment of the Democratic Rule of Law.

^{Domingues (2017}), in his dissertation, sought to identify, based on the theoretical framework used, how the thematic citizenship is presented in the legal norms that guide the organization of teaching systems and the educational processes of high school and technical-professional education, as well as in the Pedagogical Political Project of the researched school unit.

In his study, the author made it possible to deepen the difference between the conception of citizenship in the liberal sense and in the Marxist-Gramscian sense. This last sense, results in a process of formation for citizenship from a material and immaterial structure that gives conditions for the development of autonomy, since the subject may or may not develop critical autonomy depending on the pedagogical processes that involve him.

Furthermore, according to ^{Domingues (2017}), a citizen, as a governed person, must possess, even if in an abstract way, the full capabilities of a governor, so that he understands the historically formed power structures and their social function.

In her turn, ^{Mesquita (2018}) investigated, in her thesis, the possibilities of exercising citizenship since childhood in public schools, based on the participation of children in decisions on matters of interest to them. As a result, the author concluded that it is completely feasible to carry out proposals in education that enable children to actively participate in the construction of their citizenship. Therefore, according to the author, it is necessary to break with the traditional teaching structure, once you learn citizenship by exercising it.

^{Schütz (2016}), in his dissertation, analyzed the relationship between education and the concept of citizenship. Therefore, an attempt was made to understand, especially, the concept of citizenship elaborated by Hannah Arendt in her works. According to the author, based on Arendt’s conclusions, citizenship is a dimension of political action and, therefore, there is no citizenship without political participation.

^{Daudt’s dissertation (2018}) dealt with the social control spaces of the Popular and Citizen Participation System in the municipality of Canoas-RS. The results of the research pointed, in the educational process for citizenship through popular participation, to the importance of the sense of collectivity in the spaces of social control.

^{Faturi (2018}), in his dissertation, sought to examine young people’s understandings of citizenship and the role of school and history teaching in this process. The author inferred that for the construction of a democratic society it is necessary to provide, through education, the intellectual, material and social conditions so that students understand and can actively intervene in the political and social processes that surround them.

^{Moraes’ dissertation (2018}) presented that communication, as an educational practice, is essential for the strengthening of citizenship. The author argued that radio is democratic and establishes citizen relations between its components, since it enables the plurality of voices. Thus, from this tool, students begin to debate and address important issues for the development of citizenship and the improvement of their social skills.

In turn, ^{Maia’s thesis (2014}) evidenced the comparison of the meanings of citizenship based on the speeches of students, teachers and curricular documents within the scope of the discipline of sociology. In the end, the author suggested some implications of the meanings of citizenship that may contribute to the emergence of participatory citizens, especially in the political area, and that may be relevant to the strengthening of radical and plural forms of democracy.

^{Carvalho’s dissertation (2017}) had as main objective to investigate the principles of education and citizenship in Rousseaunian thought by developing a critical-reflexive comparison with the ideal of citizenship proposed by the National Educational Bases and Guidelines Law (LDB nº 9394/1996). Thus, a critique was established regarding the fulfillment of this Law, regarding the citizen’s formation, before the school reality, considering that, according to the author, the educational process will lose its relevance if it does not idealize the citizen’s formation.

On the other hand, ^{Lima’s dissertation (2018}) had the main purpose of identifying whether the disciplinary and hierarchical teaching of the state military colleges in Goiás favored the formation of participative, reflective and autonomous citizens, or subservient citizens. In the end, the author found that the citizens trained in these colleges will contribute to the perpetuation of the capitalist system, since the investment in servile training enables the domination and exploitation of the productive forces of the working classes.

^{Lima (2018}) concludes that, with the predominance of authoritarianism as a way to manage their institutions, the state military colleges in Goiás represent a setback and stagnation for the struggle and achievement of a more democratic education.

The author also reveals that, although these institutions proclaim a democratic management to form citizens active in the emancipatory process, their documents and practices reveal a centralized, disciplinary and hierarchical management.

The papers of ^{Gomes (2014}) and ^{Mesquita (2018}) reflect on the importance of an education that prioritizes citizen education, through the promotion of spaces for student participation, inside and outside the classroom, in which they exercise critical and participatory citizenship.

^{Lisboa (2014}), ^{Macedo (2014}) and ^{Daudt (2018}) when dealing, in general, with social and political participation, corroborated with the understanding of ^{Gadotti (2014}, p. 4) when he reports: “We train for participation by participating, facing the technical and political challenges of participation. Participation is political-pedagogical achievement”.

The dissertations by ^{Costa (2016}) and ^{Faturi (2018}), when addressing the interdependence between education and citizenship, confirmed ^{Carvalho’s understanding (2002}, p. 11) that “the absence of an educated population has always been one of the main obstacles to the construction of civil and political citizenship”.

Through reflection on the differences between the conception of citizenship in the Marxist-Gramscian sense and in the liberal sense presented by ^{Domingues (2017}), it was found that ^{Stering (2015}), when dealing with her thesis on Proeja, demonstrated that this program reflects a conception of citizenship in the Marxist-Gramscian sense.

On the other hand, the result of the research by ^{Lima (2018}) reflected a conception of citizenship in the liberal sense, since it found that citizens trained in the military state schools of Goiás will contribute to the perpetuation of the capitalist system.

In relation to the theme of education and citizenship articulated to the interests of youth, it is worth mentioning the dissertations of ^{Faturi (2018}), ^{Gomes (2014}) and ^{Moraes (2018}), as well as the thesis of ^{Maia (2014}), since they carried out their research focused on young audiences.

In this context, ^{Faturi (2018}) investigated the extent to which the school builds youth and reflects on the tensions and ambiguities experienced by the young person, by constituting himself/herself as a student in a school environment that normally disregards his/her youth and citizen status. This research reinforces the understanding observed by ^{Dayrell, Leão and Reis (2007}), in which the condition of student is an alternative that may or may not be incorporated by the young person.

With regard to ^{Gomes’ dissertation (2014}), the author analyzed how youth observes the present, what their intentions for the future are and what their capacity for action is, especially regarding their representations about the practice of citizenship at school.

This dissertation, in dealing with the desires of young people, demonstrated the need to have a common language with this audience, noting the need for the school institution and its teachers to open listening spaces for the understanding of youth identities and behaviors, as advocated by ^{Carrano and Martins (2011}).

On the other hand, ^{Moraes (2018}), when identifying the benefits of the radio project at school, observed, among other things, that young people from this project began to debate and address important issues for the development of citizenship and the improvement of their social skills.

This dissertation, in defending the radio as a tool of citizenship formation for young people, recognizes the importance of practices that bring young people closer to their real interests and, in this way, breaks the gap between the assertion of reflection and the experience of significant practices, as portrayed ^{Dayrell, Leão and Reis (2007}).

In turn, ^{Maia (2014}, p. 79) reported that “education for citizenship offers the young student a more proactive and autonomous role in the educational process and the knowledge about citizenship constructed is an instrument of social transformation”.

Thus, the author argued that the educational space should use strategies to encourage young students to find ways of representing and articulating their concerns and demands.

These works, when addressing education and citizenship linked to the interests of youth, strengthened the understanding of the importance of creating, in the school environment, spaces in which young people can be heard. In this way, students will be able to present their real needs, as well as develop critical awareness of the role they play in society.

Finally, from the dissertations and theses analyzed, there was the challenge of promoting participation and decision-making strategies that make the learning process meaningful for students, considering that education enables the necessary conditions for citizen practice and that consequently, citizenship cannot be realized without social and political participation.

Conclusion

As previously presented, the present article had the purpose of identifying the problematizations carried out in Brazil, in the years 2014 to 2018, regarding education and citizenship, in order to map the state of the art and present the contributions of the analyzed papers.

Therefore, regarding the mapping of the state of the art, through the quantification and identification of bibliographic data, it was found that the number of papers over the five years analyzed was approximate, ranging from 2 to 5, which revealed a reduced number of research, denoting the need for new problematizations regarding the proposed theme.

Academic production, in the selected sample, is concentrated in the Southeast region of Brazil, with emphasis on the State of São Paulo, which corresponds to more than 50% of the total papers from all over the country. As for the North region, in the analyzed period, there was no publication of paper on the researched theme.

In addition, more than 50% of the papers were concentrated on doctorate and master’s degrees in Education. Regarding the methodological approach, most of the research was qualitative, with only two quali-quantitative. As for the type, bibliographic and documentary researches predominated.

Regarding contributions of the studies analyzed, in the qualitative findings section, the objectives and main conclusions of the theses and dissertations were presented. In general, the papers confirmed the impossibility of exercising citizenship without an adequate education, that is, an education that aims at the full development of the person and his/her preparation for the exercise of citizenship, as provided in art. 205 of our Federal Constitution.

Among the papers, those that reflected on the importance of an education that prioritizes citizen training, through the promotion of spaces for students’ participation, inside and outside the classroom, where they exercise critical and participatory citizenship, stood out.

In addition, the research confirmed the understanding of the authors mentioned in the introductory part of this article, especially when they addressed the importance of training for social and political participation, as well as the interdependence between education and citizenship.

Furthermore, by identifying the research that dealt with the theme of education and citizenship linked to the interests of youth, it was possible to see the small number of studies that were concerned with investigating youth participation, especially in the academic space. Of the 17 papers, only 3 dissertations and 1 thesis conducted their research with a focus on young audiences.

These papers strengthened the understanding about the importance of creating, in the school environment, spaces in which young people can be heard. In this way, students will be able to present their real needs, as well as develop critical awareness of the role they play in society.

In this context, it is worth noting that, according to art. 4 of Law nº 12.852/2013 (Youth Statute): “Young people have the right to social and political participation and in the formulation, execution and evaluation of public youth policies.” (BRASIL, 2013). Therefore, for young people to occupy a central position in political and social processes, they need to develop a critical awareness, through pedagogical spaces that enable participation, freedom of opinion and, consequently, formation of citizens.

Therefore, the set of studies made it possible to understand how to base the reflection that education, a fundamental social right, is an essential requirement for achieving political citizenship by young students in the face of today’s challenges.

Finally, in light of the social and academic relevance of the theme presented, it is expected that the present article can motivate researchers to present new questions regarding the relationship between education and citizenship, in a special way, articulated to the interests of youth.