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Acta Scientiarum. Education

versão impressa ISSN 2178-5198versão On-line ISSN 2178-5201

Acta Educ. vol.44  Maringá  2022  Epub 10-Ago-2022

https://doi.org/10.4025/actascieduc.v44i1.62272 

TEACHERS' FORMATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Human Rights Education in the curriculum: teaching and learning through portfolios

Ana Maria Klein1  * 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0004-1908

Flaviana de Freitas Oliveira1 
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3714-5820

Juliana dos Santos Costa1 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3708-184X

Paula Toledo Lara dos Santos1 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6546-4058

1Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Rua Cristovão Colombo, 2265, 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brasil.


ABSTRACT.

This article presents a documental analysis of a corpus consisting on 95 portfolios prepared in a Human Rights Education (EDH) course offered in a postgraduate course. Portfolios were used as a methodological strategy to approach contents related to Human Rights (HR) in interdisciplinary and transversal perspective, prioritizing the perception of these rights from reality. At the beginning of the course, for 5 consecutive weeks, the students prepared portfolios in response to the proposal to bring some Human Right that they encountered using a vehicle chosen by them, for example: news, music, movies, images, among others. This is an applied research with a qualitative approach, whose objectives were: to analyze the HR present in the portfolios; identifity the vehicles used in portfolios. The analysis of the material was carried out through the categorization of Human Rights and vehicles. The results show that most of the portfolios analyzed, 65%, refer to civil and political rights. In 24% of the portfolios refer to economic, social and cultural rights. The third group, with 11% of portfolios, highlights diffuse and collective rights that are characterized by being aimed at a specific group, category or set of people who have some kind of bond, something in common. The most present vehicle among the analyzed works were those that publish news, with 44% of portfolios; then, art-related, such as images, music and poems with 38% of portfolios. The use of portfolios supported the perception and discussion of Human Rights in a contextualized way, also indicating the different vehicles that can contribute to the approach of these contents in the classroom.

Keywords: human rights education; portfolios; human rights; teaching

RESUMO.

O artigo apresenta a análise documental de um corpus constituído por 95 portfólios elaborados em uma disciplina de Educação em Direitos Humanos (EDH) ofertada em um programa de pós-graduação stricto sensu. Portfólios foram utilizados como estratégia metodológica para abordar conteúdos relacionados aos Direitos Humanos (DH), numa perspectiva interdisciplinar e transversal, priorizando a percepção destes direitos a partir da realidade. No início da disciplina, durante 5 semanas consecutivas, os estudantes elaboraram portfólios atendendo à proposta de trazerem algum Direito Humano com o qual se depararam por meio do veículo por eles escolhido, por exemplo: notícias, músicas, filmes, imagens, dentre outros. Trata-se de uma pesquisa aplicada com abordagem qualitativa, desenvolvida por meio de análise documental, cujos objetivos foram: analisar os DH presentes nos portfólios; levantar os veículos utilizados para identificar os DH. A análise do material foi realizada por meio da categorização dos Direitos Humanos e dos veículos. Os resultados demonstram que a maior parte dos portfólios analisados, 65%, referem-se aos direitos civis e políticos. Em 24% dos portfólios estão os direitos econômicos, sociais e culturais (DESC). O terceiro grupo, com 11% de portfólios, destaca direitos difusos e coletivos, que se caracterizam por se destinarem a um grupo, categoria ou conjunto específico de pessoas que tem algum tipo de vínculo, algo em comum. O veículo mais presente dentre os trabalhos analisados foram os que divulgam notícias, com 44% de portfólios; em seguida, os veículos relacionados à arte como imagens, músicas, quadrinhos e poemas com 41% dos portfólios. O uso de portfólios favoreceu a percepção e a discussão dos Direitos Humanos de maneira contextualizada, indicando também os diferentes veículos que podem contribuir para a abordagem destes conteúdos em sala de aula.

Palavras-chave: educação em direitos humanos; portfólios; direitos humanos; ensino

RESUMEN.

El artículo presenta un análisis documental de un corpus compuesto por 95 portafolios elaborados en un curso de Educación en Derechos Humanos (EDH) ofrecido en un programa de posgrado stricto sensu. Los portafolios se utilizaron como estrategia metodológica para abordar contenidos relacionados con los Derechos Humanos (DDHH) en una perspectiva interdisciplinaria y transversal, priorizando la percepción de estos derechos desde la realidad. Al inicio del curso, durante 5 semanas consecutivas, los estudiantes elaboraron portafolios en respuesta a la propuesta de llevar algún Derecho Humano que encontraron a través del vehículo elegido por ellos, por ejemplo: noticias, música, películas, imágenes, entre otros. Se trata de una investigación aplicada con enfoque cualitativo, cuyos objetivos fueron: analizar los DH presentes en las carteras; Levantamiento de los vehículos utilizados para identificar el DH, desarrollado a través del análisis de documentos. El análisis del material se realizó a través de la categorización de Derechos Humanos y vehículos. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de las carteras analizadas, el 65%, se refieren a derechos civiles y políticos. En el 24% de las carteras se encuentran derechos económicos, sociales y culturales (DESC). El tercer grupo, con un 11% de carteras, destaca los derechos difusos y colectivos que se caracterizan por estar destinados a un grupo, categoría o conjunto específico de personas que tienen algún tipo de vínculo, algo en común. El vehículo más presente entre las obras analizadas fueron las que publican noticias, con el 44% de los portafolios; luego, vehículos relacionados con el arte como imágenes, música y poemas con el 38% de los portafolios. El uso de carpetas favoreció la percepción y discusión de los Derechos Humanos de forma contextualizada, indicando además los diferentes vehículos que pueden contribuir al abordaje de estos contenidos en el aula.

Palabras clave: educación en derechos humanos; portafolios; derechos humanos; enseñanza

Introduction

Human Rights (HR) have been conquered with struggle throughout history through the struggle for the recognition of human dignity, expressed by the values of equality, freedom and solidarity. In a country marked by inequalities and social exclusions like Brazil, such values constitute ideals to be pursued and implemented. In this regard, in 2006, the country signed a commitment to the development of Education in Human Rights (EDH) as a public policy, believing that the educational path is potentially a path capable of forming citizens who are knowledgeable and sensitive to such rights. In 2012, this commitment was formalized through the National Guidelines for Education in Human Rights, making it mandatory for all levels and modalities of formal education in the country.

Since then, one of the great challenges to be faced by the Human Rights Education is to bring Human Rights to the classroom. Most teachers did not have, in their initial training, during graduation, subjects or contents related to this area of knowledge. Common sense, often present in the speeches of large portions of the Brazilian population, associates Human Rights with the rights of 'bandits'. Jargons such as: Human Rights for Right Humans reveal that Human Rights are not understood as inherent to all human beings and therefore express prejudiced and hierarchical views of rights.

In Brazil, prejudice against human rights dates back to the 1964 dictatorship, when Brazilian artists and intellectuals were arrested and tortured for having ideas and positions contrary to the regime of repression and suppression of rights. This group started to claim the Human Rights and these in turn were associated with political prisoners. With the political amnesty, the link between HR and prisoners remained, however, related to ordinary prisoners.

To foster or omit when faced with this type of reductionist and prejudiced vision means keeping millions of people ignorant and, therefore, silencing them in the claim for rights, especially in those considered collective or in relation to economic, social and cultural rights.

Human Rights are not abstractions or distant ideals, they are part of our daily lives and the interpersonal or institutional relationships of all human beings. However, this type of perception is not intrinsic to human rights, therefore educational processes are necessary for people to know such rights, recognize them in everyday life and critically position themselves in relation to their enforceability. Recognizing the importance of education to establish new bases for human relationships, the training of educators is strategic, as these professionals will be in the classrooms educating the new generations. However, not just any pedagogical path dialogues with Human Rights Education, the principles and characteristics of this education model require dialogic, participatory methodologies that favor the development of students' criticality.

This paper aims to present portfolios as a pedagogical strategy for working with Human Rights in the classroom. We will bring the documentary analysis of a corpus consisting of 95 portfolios prepared in a Human Rights Education course offered in a stricto sensu graduate program. However, we emphasize that the strategies analyzed here can be used at any level of education. The adoption of this methodological instrument valued the subjectivity of students and favored discussions related to DH articulated to reality and from an interdisciplinary and transversal perspective.

Human Rights Education in Brazilian Universities

Tosi and Zenaide (2016) resume the historical course of Human Rights Education in Brazilian universities. They situate the importance of the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, held in 1993, which gives central importance to the EDH as a way to face the violations of rights arising from racism and discrimination.

Brazil is internationally committed to the proposals created in Vienna and, from the 1990s, HR began to be the object of norms, legislation and public policies. In this context, in 1996, the National Human Rights Program (Brazil, 1996) was formulated, an official commitment of the State to HR.

The following year, the 1º Brazilian Congress on Education in Human Rights and Citizenship was held at the Universidade de São Paulo. This event brought together university professors and researchers from various areas of knowledge, public managers and civil society activists. The Congress was the initial step for groups to organize themselves in public universities and in some private or community ones and start educational activities of an extension nature.

The university extension role is great social relevance, developed through non-formal educational actions. This way of university action enables the democratization of knowledge built in the academy and, at the same time, contributes significantly to the formation of different segments and social actors. The last decade of the 20th century brought conditions for different academic events of this nature to be held, such as courses, seminars and social intervention projects.

The new millennium begins with the second version of the National Human Rights Program - PNDH 2, (Brazil, 2002) and with the start of Centers for Studies and Research in Human Rights, observatories and Human Rights Education Committees in universities .

In 2006, the National Plan for Education in Human Rights - PNEDH (Brazil, 2006), fully focused on education (formal, non-formal and informal) and with a dimension dedicated to higher education, combined with educational policies of the Ministry of Education, contributed to the creation of Human Rights Education disciplines and courses. With that, we have expanded the entry of HR in universities and teaching starts to incorporate the contents and discussions related to the EDH.

In 2010, the third version of the National Human Rights Program - PNDH 3 (Brazil, 2010), dedicated an axis to the theme of education, further strengthening the commitment of a State policy guided by Human Rights and education. Believing in the indispensability of education for the consolidation of a culture guided by HR, Brazil, through the National Council of Education, institutes in 2012, the National Guidelines for Education in Human Rights (Resolution nº 1, 2012). This mandatory document makes the EDH mandatory from Early Childhood Education to Higher Education.

Characterization of HR: interdisciplinary and transversal

The central content of the Human Rights Education is the Human Rights. As content, HR is an interdisciplinary and transversal theme. The concepts of disciplinary, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary concern knowledge and the way it is organized in the curriculum. It is not just an organization of content, adopting one or another conception implies the division of school time, the methodological choice, the organization of the school and classroom space, in the activities and assessments that will be proposed to students. We adopted the definitions proposed by the General National Curriculum Guidelines for Basic Education (Ministry of Education, 2013), a document according to which interdisciplinarity presupposes the articulation of two or more disciplines. This form of curricular organization makes it possible to work with transversal themes. Transversality, in turn, is a form of organization of pedagogical work, that is, it does not have an epistemological dimension like the concepts that have the disciplinary suffix in their nomenclature. Through transversality, the themes are integrated into the disciplines, passing through them.

Human Rights are interdisciplinary, as they are situated at the confluence of knowledge from different areas and disciplines. How to talk about HR without considering the socio-historical and political dimension of the conquest of rights? How to approach and situate the HR problem without statistical data? How to understand its political dimension without considering geographic, historical and cultural aspects? How to raise awareness of its violation or promotion without resorting to scenic, plastic, photographic artistic expressions? How to understand HR without investigating its different interpretations in the literature? To understand the complexity and breadth of Human Rights, knowledge from different areas of knowledge is needed. Adopting a single perspective for your approach means reducing them to a partial, insufficient and incomplete view. In interdisciplinarity, the concepts raise understanding because it is intended to approach the totality of the studied phenomenon, to apprehend its movements, its comings and goings, to see beyond the reach of the gaze. Understanding allows the researched phenomenon to be (re)constructed and re(signified), essential processes for us to become an active part in the construction of human history (Ranghetti, 2014).

It is a transversal theme and as such, the need to address it in formal education processes emerges from the conflicts of contemporary society. In a globalized world and in a multicultural society like the Brazilian one, there is no denying the importance of a culture of respect for others and their rights and the indispensability of educational actions that work to overcome prejudice and expand worldviews. The introduction of topics relevant to social life intends a broad training focused on responsible social action and capable of contributing to the development of students' moral and intellectual autonomy.

The transversal themes aim at (Yus, 1998, p. 39-40, our translation):

Promote interdisciplinary, global and complex visions that seek to understand phenomena that are difficult to explain only through the partial vision of a discipline;

Breaking away from dominant, ethnocentric, androcentric views, bringing different perspectives and views to the theme/problem in question;

Cooperative and participatory classes with the involvement of critical students and teachers, intellectuals and curriculum creators;

Establish connection with elements of everyday life, provoke empathy.

The points that characterize all the transversal themes, highlighted by Yus (1998) and that relate to Human Rights, can be said that: HR has attitudinal components, that is, they aim at a change in attitude towards them based on the work developed; they are guided by democratic values such as equality, freedom, justice, solidarity, values that constitute the basis of Human Rights; they seek interdisciplinary, global and complex visions of phenomena that cannot be explained by just one discipline, contributing to analyzes from different perspectives; they recognize the importance of establishing links with everyday life and, finally, seek ways of meaningful learning for students.

Yus (1998) emphasizes that the learning processes of transversal themes must happen through motivation, problematization, raising hypotheses, search for information, confrontation of points of view. These processes recognize and value the subjectivity of students, favoring that significant contents are selected, instigating new relationships and the construction of new meanings.

The author indicates steps to work with these themes: student participation in the elaboration of norms; cooperative student work; sociocognitive conflicts; to propose experiences that put, confront stereotypes; adopt an integrative stance in the face of student diversity; stimulate pro-social attitudes towards colleagues and the community and encourage symbolic activities (drawings, games).

It is necessary to sensitize students to the issues that HR involves, as it is not about abstract or generic knowledge, they are real issues, present in everyday life and in the interpersonal relationships of all human beings. In addition to knowledge, it is necessary to raise awareness and empathy for the other, taking into account their differences, their rights and the need to recognize equality and equity between human beings.

The characteristics and objectives of transversality bring some challenges to educational practices, such as: working with the axiological (values) and attitudinal (applying what they learned in everyday life) dimensions; promote the discussion of the same problem from different perspectives; to use the knowledge of the disciplines in favor of the understanding and analysis of the themes/problems studied; promote the active and collaborative participation of students.

In relation to the axiological dimension, it is about values and practices capable of transforming the attitudes of each one of those involved from the awakening of an autonomous moral conscience. It is important to highlight that, in plural and multicultural societies, we have increasingly diverse moral realities. The mere incorporation of traditional values, which are transmitted from generation to generation, is no longer enough for us to live socially in the face of the diversities of today's world. The new circumstances force us to create new ways of life and this implies moral autonomy and creativity. The dimension of values ​​related to Human Rights can help us learn to live in a dialogic way, sometimes following a path that has already been set, and other times using a compass to find the best path. They are essential ethical principles to guide people in new contexts, in which moral rules have not yet been established or consolidated.

Another challenge refers to one of the central characteristics of transversality, the relationship established between learning theoretically systematized knowledge (learning about reality) and real life issues (learning in reality). It is not a question of creating new school subjects that are only intended to transmit information on a certain topic, nor even of holding lectures to 'enlighten' the community. Cross-cutting themes relate to the everyday life of the community, people's lives and their interests.

The problematization of reality is fundamental to the EDH, as Human Rights are not abstractions or just a set of norms, they deal with rights that should be part of everyone's daily life. Thus, looking at the world through the lens of human rights makes it possible to perceive violations, recognize initiatives aimed at their promotion and develop creative actions capable of transforming reality.

Transversality, by bringing reality as a guideline for reflection and a motto for learning, presupposes the articulation of different knowledge. The complexity of life and its issues imposes on us the need to make use of different knowledge and skills to understand and analyze such themes. Therefore, transversal themes should bring people's lives closer to the formal school curriculum, that is, they constitute an opportunity to develop content from different disciplines based on the discussion of a socially relevant topic. Hence its relationship with interdisciplinarity.

Human Rights need interdisciplinarity for their analysis, understanding and promotion. Thus, when introducing them transversally into school curricula, the discussion on Human Rights imposes on us the need to make use of different knowledge and skills to understand and analyze such themes. Knowledge related to history, geography, sociology, philosophy, natural sciences, arts, mathematics, native language and others are necessary to understand the meaning and extent of the historical achievement of rights, to measure the breadth and complexity of principles such as dignity, democracy, freedom, equality and solidarity. Without the articulation between the knowledge historically constructed by humanity, Human Rights can be reduced to a list of 30 articles that make up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations [UN], 1948), devoid of history, context and meaning. human, social and personal.

Going back to the initial ideas about EDH, it is a way of life, a new lens to look at the world and people. A collective conscience forged in values acquired by human beings throughout life is desired. Galvão (2014) states that collective consciousness is formed as a result of personal consciousness, creating the human being's need to identify himself as an individual who makes up the whole. Such identification presupposes values that transcend selfishness, dispute and competition. It is not one against all, but of all together united by common values.

Returning to our problem: which paths to follow to promote the dimensions of the EDH from the interdisciplinarity and transversality of the Human Rights? Often, the paths chosen are found in the experiences that teachers had while they were students, that is, they reproduce old practices. Sometimes the old practices prove to be good paths, consistent with what we believe, however, these models experienced in the past do not always account for new perspectives and educational needs. We point to portfolios as a new and possible path that seeks to answer these questions.

The educational potential of Portfolios

There is no single definition for portfolios that can be used for learning and assessment. In this article, we adopt the definition of Arter y Spandel (1992 apud Klenowski, 2004, p. 36, our translation):

[...] a collection of student work that tells the story of their efforts, progress and achievements in a given area. This collection should include student participation in the selection of portfolio content, guides for selection, criteria for judging merits, and evidence of their self-reflection.

Subject and content, two elements that are combined in portfolios and allow the dialogue between objectivity and subjectivity of the teaching-learning process, since knowledge is built from the references of each subject. It is about learning that seeks the meanings that subjects attribute to knowledge.

The use of portfolios allows for metacognitive development, that is, it favors the individual to reflect on their own thinking, their knowledge, on their learning processes. Watkins (1996, apud Klenowski, 2004) distinguishes metacognition from meta-learning. The first means reflecting on thought itself, which implies awareness of thought processes and the control of these processes. The second is related to the awareness of the learning experience itself, which involves a wide variety of themes, including goals, feelings, social relationships and the learning context. These processes require continuous interpretation of experience and translate into planning, selection and inference.

The learning experience triggered by portfolios confronts students with the need to reflect on their own process. The use of portfolios for teaching and learning makes reference to Dewey's theory with regard to the active, reflective, careful and persistent examination of any belief or form of knowledge in light of the foundations that underlie them (Klenowski, 2004). Dewey defines education as a process of reconstructing and organizing experience, by which we more acutely perceive meaning, and thereby become better able to direct the course of our future experiences (Dewey, 1978).

Teixeira (1978), in an outline of Dewey's theory, defines experience as the action of one element on the other, in which both are mutually modified. This phenomenon takes place on different planes: physical, biological and human. In regard to human, action and reaction reach their greatest amplitude through choice, preference, selection, reflection, knowledge and the reconstruction of experience. Experiences alter reality to some extent; the fact that we know something implies a simultaneous change in the agent of knowledge and in the known element. For example, the fact that we know a plant species, only visually, implies a type of relationship, knowing it through its properties, characteristics, functions alters this relationship between the subject and the object of knowledge, that is, that plant species will no longer be seen and treated in the same way.

Hart (apud Teixeira, 1978) classifies experiences into three types, which together make up the human experience: (1) had - they exist and happen without, however, reaching the level of knowledge and consciousness: hunger, thirst, sleep, well-being, discomfort of a newborn baby; (2) reflexive - they reach the level of knowledge and conscience, enabling the emergence of intelligence through analysis, investigation of reality, selection of means and factors; (3) disquieting - they correspond to human yearnings in relation to the uncertainties of reality, driving us to a constant review of what has been produced by humanity.

The educational experience is located at the level of reflection. Through thought, it enables the perception of relationships between facts/elements/events and also allows continuity relationships (looking at the before and after the process). The result of this type of experience is knowledge, either in its acquisition or in its extension. Experience, therefore, can be considered as the essence of education, as it broadens knowledge, enriches and brings meaning to human life.

For Dewey (1959) experience enables human beings to understand elements that can be projected far beyond what is consciously noticed. Therefore, it is necessary that the relationships established by the subject are brought to the level of consciousness. This process takes place through communication, capable of linking the results of the group's experience with the individual's immediate experiences.

The character of the true educational experience involves continuity and interaction between the learner and what is learned. Scientific study guides and deepens experience, but experience will only be educational to the extent that it rests on the continuity of relevant knowledge and to the extent that such knowledge modifies or shapes the student's perspective, attitude, and ability.

It is understood that portfolios, by placing students at the center of the teaching-learning process and favoring reflection on their experiences, contribute to the development of deeper, meaningful learning that enables a degree of awareness of the process of learning itself.

Learning processes through portfolios require students to clearly understand the purposes, criteria and guidelines in order to carry out the work (Klenowski, 2004). Such elaboration requires students to carry out a self-assessment of what they have learned in order to select the elements that they consider most significant in this process.

Lyons (1998, apud Klenowski, 2004), analyzes the potential of portfolios in teacher training: it is a powerful instrument for reflection on personal and professional growth and development. Some of the intended objectives in relation to teacher training are: development of reflective thinking; greater awareness of teaching and learning processes; expansion of knowledge; self-evaluation; promoting student learning. It is about leading teachers to reflect on the teaching and learning processes through their experience and their meaning is fundamental for a reflective and conscious practice.

Use of portfolios in discipline of Human Rights Education in pos-graduate studies

The experience reported refers to the development of a Human Rights Education course offered in a stricto sensu postgraduate course at a public university in the state of São Paulo that used portfolios as a teaching strategy.

The course was developed over 15 weeks and had the participation of 19 students graduated in different areas: psychology, pedagogy, biology, law and social work. These students produced, in the first 5 weeks of the course, one work per week, resulting in 95 portfolios that constitute the corpus of this study.

The use of the portfolio as a strategy for teaching HR aimed to provoke a critical look at reality, proposing that students establish relationships between these rights and everyday events, images or cultural manifestations. Thus, each student, when faced with news, music, poetry, photographs or any other element that refers to HR, should select one of them and make a brief reflection on the relationship established between the selected material and Human Rights.

The objectives of the study were:

- Analyze the HR present in the portfolios;

- Survey which vehicles were used to identify HR.

The research is applied, since it aims to bring knowledge and experiences that can support discussions and activities in schools and other educational institutions. Regarding the approach to the problem, it is a qualitative research. This type of approach is characterized by the interpretation of phenomena and the attribution of meanings (Severino, 2007). Regarding the technical procedures, the work is characterized as a documental analysis, which uses materials without analytical treatment, considered a primary source of data (Gil, 2002).

Study development

The analysis of the 95 portfolios that make up the corpus of this study focused on the HR highlighted by the students and the vehicle/situation in which they identified this right. The analysis and treatment of data took place through the categorization of Human Rights, grouped from the so-called 'generations of rights'. The analysis of the vehicles was based on their identification through the appreciation of each portfolio.

The research was submitted and approved by the Research Ethics Committee, CAEE process 93672418.9.0000.5466.

Human Rights Generations

Human Rights are interdependent and indivisible, which means that there is no right more important than the other and that the enjoyment of one depends on the realization of the others. However, the classification of rights based on generations makes it possible to understand the core values ​​of each generation and favors the analysis of the rights raised by students.

First Generation - Civil and political rights - related to individual freedoms, such as rights to life, liberty, equality, security, property, privacy, personality, and nationality and political rights.

Second Generation - Economic, social and cultural rights - are based on equality, such as: education, culture, health, food, clothing, housing, security, work, social security.

Third Generation - Diffuse and collective rights - focuses on the collectivity and are guided by the foundation of solidarity, not only for current generations, but also for future generations. They involve the right to the environment, the consumer and peace.

Data analysis and interpretation

The study corpus consisting of 95 portfolios was analyzed from two perspectives: in relation to its content and in relation to the vehicle. Table 1 presents the results of the categorization of the contents with the themes of the portfolios.

Table 1 Categorization of portfolio themes. 

HR generation Portfolio themes f %
Civil and political rights - Violation of Civil Rights (freedom of speech, religion, thought) 62 65%
- Citizenship rights
- Social Security
- Social violence
- Intolerance towards human diversity (racism, xenophobia, machismo, homophobia)
- Right to political asylum
Economic, social and cultural rights - Education 23 24%
- Social inequality
- Slavery
- Child labor
Diffuse and collective rights - Rights of indigenous peoples 10 11%
- Rights of the elderly person
- Environment
- Right to water
- Rights of people with disabilities

Source: Prepared by the authors based on the data collected.

Table 1 shows that most of the portfolios analyzed, 65%, refer to civil and political rights. This generation emphasizes individual freedoms and rights. These are rights that cannot be violated and demand a 'negative' action by the State, that is, non-interference. Then there are the economic, social and cultural rights, present in 24% of the portfolios analyzed and which are part of the so-called second generation. These are rights that require the State to act in their promotion, such as education. For everyone to enjoy this right, the State must promote public policies that guarantee schools, teachers, teaching materials, and so many other actions necessary for the realization of this right. The third generation, with 11% of portfolios, highlights diffuse and collective rights that are characterized by being intended for a specific group, category or set of people who have some kind of bond, something in common.

The interpretation of these data cannot be done without the contextualization of the period in which this study is developed. Brazil is experiencing a delicate sociopolitical moment in which a polarized climate has been created in which extremist opinions and attitudes disregard, violate and extinguish people's rights, denying human diversities. We live in times of prejudice, discrimination, violence and official dissemination of fake news. These are acts performed by human beings that violate human rights. While people are persecuted by certain groups for defending ideas that are critical of the extreme right, violating freedom of thought and expression, these same groups invoke these freedoms to spread fake news. Intolerance in relation to ethnic-racial, sexual, religious, gender diversities, among others, became part of people's daily lives, being present in the news, in conversations and also in classes on Human Rights.

Social, Economic and Cultural Rights have equality as their central foundation, in the sense that all people must have equal opportunities and, for that, rights must be promoted. In a country like Brazil, inequality is abysmal and the violation of these rights by the State is visible and observable in the most different situations. The portfolios focused on situations that refer to the right to education and decent work, in addition to the problematization of child labor that violates the Rights of Children and Adolescents (which are diffuse and collective rights).

The portfolios that refer to the third generation of diffuse and collective rights, gather 11% of the works and highlight the rights of specific populations that are systematically violated, such as native peoples, the elderly and people with disabilities. In addition, they bring environmental rights, increasingly pressing and present in social consciousness.

It should be noted that the almost absolute totality of the portfolios was based on the violation of rights. Only one of the works brought a promoted right and this in turn referred to the accessibility of visually impaired people to school books. These data demonstrate how human rights are present in our daily lives and, unfortunately, the Brazilian reality is marked by their violation.

This same categorization performed here was developed in the classroom with the students. Gathered in groups, the students classified the portfolios made by them. Therefore, the portfolios allow, in addition to the individual perception of the reality perceived with the elaboration of the work, a global analysis of the set of works and the interpretation of these data, that is, the analytical attitude about the converging points and the possible meaning expressed by the set of portfolios. It is about critically analyzing our perception of reality and why we perceive it that way. This type of analysis involves specific knowledge about Human Rights , such as their generations and the role of the State in relation to them. It also demands the exercise of an interdisciplinary view, how can we discuss environmental rights without considering biology, sociology, mathematical knowledge for data analysis?

The second perspective of analyzing the portfolios refers to the vehicle through which each student perceived/saw a human right. Table 2 shows how the work was distributed among the different vehicles.

Table 2 Vehicles in which DH were identified. 

Veículo F %
News (TV news, print and digital newspapers) 41 44%
Images (photographs, drawings,graffiti, songs) 15 16%
Music (songs) 12 13%
Poems and quotes 9 9%
Situations experienced by the students 8 8%
Documentaries 7 7%
Cartoons/Comics charges 3 3%

Source: Prepared by the authors based on the data collected.

The most present vehicles among the analyzed works were those that publish news, with 44% of portfolios. A first point to be considered is that the group of students who prepared the portfolios was made up of adult and graduate students who follow the news on a daily basis. A second point, arising from the first, is to find the HR in the reality of the country and the world through concrete facts expressed in news. The works that locate HR in documentaries (7%) are close to this category, that is, that bring facts about Human Righs through a visual language.

The second group, with 16% of the portfolios, brings together images that express, through art, both concrete facts and expressions of denunciation and indignation about violated rights. They do not bring a description of a specific fact, like the news, but open space for the subjectivity of individual interpretation and the relationship with different situations and contexts. Music/Songs (13%) and poems (9%) come close to this category, which also use art to denounce or express indignation at the violation of rights. They do not address a specific case, but situations common to several facts, which can refer each person to their own experiences. The cartoons/comic charges (3%), in turn, refer to a more limited fact that presupposes knowledge of the context and the perception of the implicit criticism of the portrayed situation, using humor to awaken people's conscience. It is important to note that these vehicles are more likely to arouse emotions in people. Educating in Human Rights goes beyond the cognitive ability to understand the facts, it implies feeling the facts. The teacher Maria Victoria Benevides, a reference for the EDH, often says that we must educate minds and hearts. It is not enough to know HR, it is necessary to feel them in their relational dimension, that is, in the relationship we have with the 'other' and in the perception that this 'other', however different he may be from me, is as human as I am and have the same rights as I have. Art makes room for this awareness. If these percentages are added together, we have 41% of the works that find HR in artistic/cultural expressions.

The situations experienced by the students (8%) bring together the works that identify Human Rights in the students' own experiences, we can say that it is close to an examination of their experience in the light of HR. Look at yourself and your life with other lenses, critical and analytical lenses.

This analysis of vehicles was also discussed with the students, questioning the issue of learning, that is, how we learn from reality, with reality and in reality and the ways that can bring us closer to reality (the vehicles). The vehicles demonstrate the universe of students, in this case, a group of graduate students who value real and contextualized facts. Even so, art and experience are very important paths that go beyond the cognitive apprehension of a fact, involving emotion and subjectivity, essential elements to the EDH and this, in turn, presents itself as a way of conducting personal life.

The vehicles in which students identified HR also provide paths that can be used in classrooms to teach HR, demonstrating how learning can take place in different contexts. For this group, specifically this type of analysis and reflection, are essential, as they are teachers or non-formal educators. Understanding how students learn and seeking teaching paths that favor learning is part of teaching.

Final considerations

Education in Human Rights, mandatory at all levels and modalities of education in Brazil since 2012, when the National Guidelines for Education in Human Rights (Resolution nº 1, 2012) were established, needs methodologies that favor a critical analysis of reality through an interdisciplinary and transversal reading. Portfolios are one of the possible paths for this type of work. The analysis presented here showed that through portfolios it is possible to analyze Human Rights in local or global contexts from the exploration of news, artistic expressions or the subjects' own experiences. Human Rights are not ideals or concepts detached from reality, so they cannot be approached only as content emptied of meaning and decontextualized. It is necessary that the formation of citizens, at any level of schooling, promotes awareness of these rights, for the values they express, for their realization (or violation) in real social contexts. Hence the importance of portfolios that start from the students' perception and the themes identified by them as relevant. Generally, school and formal education in a broader way, start from the perception of specialists who delimited the contents to be discussed, leaving little or no space for students' perceptions. The use of portfolios as a methodological strategy opens space for the problematization of Human Rights having the students' perspective as a reference. Historical and sociological concepts, interdisciplinary contents and the transversality of HR can be approached through the use of these instruments. Among the aspects observed in this analysis, we highlight as relevant points:

- Raising awareness of human rights - the portfolios encouraged students to look at reality through the lens of human rights, seeking in the most different situations or contexts the association with these rights. Human Rights involve rights present in people's daily lives: education, health, housing, environment, politics, economy, culture, among others, considering the human being in its specificities. Therefore, if we know the scope of human rights, we will be able to associate everyday events with this set of rights.

- Looking critically at reality - portfolios can be instruments for discussing the reality of human rights in Brazil and also in international contexts. Learning from everyday themes, problematized under the lens of Human Rights, is capable of endowing what students learn with meaning. Such themes confront us with ethical dilemmas, since they problematize reality and allow situations of rights violations, perhaps invisible until then, to become visible and subject to reflection, discussion, positioning and action. It becomes possible to problematize prejudices, discrimination, inequalities, injustices, in short, forms of disrespect for human dignity. With this, it is expected that students build a critical and citizen worldview and are able to understand reality and, hopefully, act to transform it.

- Experience of a different methodological procedure - experiencing different methodologies can help students develop different skills and competences, in the case of portfolios, the aspects already highlighted here, such as the analytical perspective of reality, in addition to the exercise of listening and knowing the ideas of colleagues, the collective work of analysis of the materials produced. When used in courses that train teachers (undergraduate, graduate or extension) they can contribute to increasing the repertoire of these professionals, offering other possibilities for the development of teaching activity.

- Educational experience and human subjectivity - portfolios bring the subjectivity of students to the classroom as they imply the look that this student casts on his own process and on the world. It is an educational experience that promotes reflection. Through thought, it enables the perception of relationships between facts/elements/events and also allows continuity relationships (looking at the before and after the process). The result of this type of experience is knowledge, either in its acquisition or in its extension. Experience, therefore, can be considered as the essence of education, as it broadens knowledge, enriches and brings meaning to human life.

- Different vehicles - teaching and learning are distinct but interconnected processes. We always teach someone with the objective of learning. Therefore, teaching cannot be done without the understanding of how human beings learn. Thus, when observing the vehicles that mediate between students and reality, we realize that in addition to factual content expressed in news or documentaries, portfolios found HR in the arts and in their different manifestations. Art enables an understanding of the world that involves feelings, emotions. Human learning also involves emotional aspects and feelings. When we deal with human rights, we are in a universe that goes beyond the legal dimension, the positive law, we are in a relational universe that concerns the relationship I have with the 'other', involves the ethical dimension and values, consequently implies feelings, the ability of empathy that allows me to recognize in the 'other' a subject of rights like me.

Finally, we emphasize that the use of portfolios is possible and desirable at any level of education, as it can promote an education that starts from the students' perceptions, providing the relationship between objectivity and subjectivity in the teaching-learning process. In this process, knowledge comes from the references of each subject and the meanings they attribute to the contents worked on.

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10Note: The authors Ana Maria Klein and Flaviana de Freitas Oliveira were responsible for designing, analyzing and interpreting the data, writing and critically reviewing the content of the manuscript, and also approving the final version to be published. The authors Juliana dos Santos Costa and Paula Toledo Lara dos Santos were responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data and critically reviewing the content and translation.

Received: January 27, 2022; Accepted: August 02, 2022

Ana Maria Klein: Professor at the Department of Education at UNESP in São José do Rio Preto and at the Graduate Program in Teaching and Training Processes (UNESP-São José do Rio Preto - Ilha Solteira - Jaboticabal). Adviser in the office of the Vice-Rectory of UNESP, together with the Coordination of Education for Diversity and Equity. She is the 1st leader of the CNPq Research Group on Human Rights, Education and Diversity (DiHEDi). Doctor and Master in Education from the University of São Paulo (USP). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0004-1908 E-mail: ana.klein@unesp.br

Flaviana de Freitas Oliveira: Substitute professor at the Department of Education at UNESP in São José do Rio Preto and PhD student in Education at UNESP in Marília, with a CAPES grant. He holds a master's degree in Teaching and Training Processes from UNESP in São José do Rio Preto. She is the 2nd leader of the CNPq Research Group on Human Rights, Education and Diversity (DiHEDi) and alternate coordinator of the Memory Nucleus of the Human Rights Commission of the OAB/SP. She is the author of the book What do television newscasts say about Human Rights?. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3714-5820 E-mail: flaviana.freitas@unesp.br

Juliana dos Santos Costa: Master in Teaching and Formative Processes from UNESP in São José do Rio Preto. She is a researcher at the CNPq Research Group on Human Rights, Education and Diversity (DiHEDi) and a consultant on diversity, equity and inclusion. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3708-184X Email: juliana.costa@unesp.br

Paula Toledo Lara dos Santos: Professor of Criminal Law at the Centro Universitário do Norte São Paulo (UNORTE) and PhD student in Education at USP. He holds a master's degree in Teaching and Training Processes from UNESP in São José do Rio Preto. She is a researcher at the CNPq Research Group on Human Rights, Education and Diversity (DiHEDi). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6546-4058 E-mail: pt.santos@unesp.br

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