Youth and school Geography in the context of the “new” High School

Abstract

Faced with the impacts generated by the “New” High School, there are those that affect young students, especially those who attending public educational institutions. It is in this context that school and School Geography take on indispensable roles in terms of bringing young people closer to these issues, further fostering youth protagonist. This text has as its main objective to investigate the relationships of young students with Geography in the context of the “New” High School. The qualitative research, in the form of a case study, produced data through the conduct of a focus group with Regular High School students and members of the Student Union. The participating subjects, who have been experiencing the implementation of the curricular “reform” in practice and in real-time, highlighted the situation of reduced class hours for Geography and other subjects in school. In turn, Geography was associated with knowledge objects such as location, orientation, plate tectonics, biomes, topography, and climate, while being a subject capable of providing information, sometimes interesting, but generally lacking in meaning. It is considered that the relationships and perceptions of young people regarding Geography throughout the study point to the need for reflection on the role and relevance of School Geography, so that advocating for and fighting for its place in the curriculum and in the school also makes sense.