The transition to the 6th grade of Middle School is considered a challenging moment in the trajectory of many students In Brazil, the transition from 5th to 6th year is perceived by many children as a source of fear, leading to the anticipation of a hard future. This personal meanings regarding school transitions seems to be mostly institutionally forged. Thus the passage between 5th and 6th has apparently been historically converted by the "cultural psychology of Brazilian school system" as a problem, a difficult rupture. The migration from the "protected wonderland" of the first years in school to the "wild jungle" of the final ones became a "rite of passage" by which the child has to prove her "maturity" and autonomy, not only in cognitive terms, but also social and affective terms. In this chapter we analyze a story written by Sara, an 11 year- old –girl who is experiencing a transition to the 6th grade, in a new school. One month after she started school, this student writes about Carol, a character who recalls the experience of changing to a new school. By analysing the psychological movement of a character created by Carol, who has, as the fictional girl changed school, we want to capture, from the perspective of Carol (the real student) what school transition is (or could be) about. Carol may or may not have felt the same as the character she created, nevertheless she gives us important elements to study mechanisms present when one thinks and writes about the experience of changing schools. In the process of remembering and imagining the first day at school, the character, immersed in routine activities, moves towards the uncertain future by trying to anticipate possible coming events. The memory of this day is often accompanied by a feeling of fear which triggers tensions when the character imagines what could happen on the first day in a new school.
Azevedo, G, Oliveira, M.C., Marsico, G. (2021). The dynamics between remembering and imagining in school transitions. In M. Lyra, B. Wagoner & A. Barreiro (Eds). Imagining the Past, Constructing the Future.( pp. 13-29), New York: Springer;
Giuseppina MarsicoWriting – Original Draft Preparation
2021-01-01
Abstract
The transition to the 6th grade of Middle School is considered a challenging moment in the trajectory of many students In Brazil, the transition from 5th to 6th year is perceived by many children as a source of fear, leading to the anticipation of a hard future. This personal meanings regarding school transitions seems to be mostly institutionally forged. Thus the passage between 5th and 6th has apparently been historically converted by the "cultural psychology of Brazilian school system" as a problem, a difficult rupture. The migration from the "protected wonderland" of the first years in school to the "wild jungle" of the final ones became a "rite of passage" by which the child has to prove her "maturity" and autonomy, not only in cognitive terms, but also social and affective terms. In this chapter we analyze a story written by Sara, an 11 year- old –girl who is experiencing a transition to the 6th grade, in a new school. One month after she started school, this student writes about Carol, a character who recalls the experience of changing to a new school. By analysing the psychological movement of a character created by Carol, who has, as the fictional girl changed school, we want to capture, from the perspective of Carol (the real student) what school transition is (or could be) about. Carol may or may not have felt the same as the character she created, nevertheless she gives us important elements to study mechanisms present when one thinks and writes about the experience of changing schools. In the process of remembering and imagining the first day at school, the character, immersed in routine activities, moves towards the uncertain future by trying to anticipate possible coming events. The memory of this day is often accompanied by a feeling of fear which triggers tensions when the character imagines what could happen on the first day in a new school.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
