Os sentidos da “formação integrada” pela óptica de egressos de um curso técnico em agropecuária capixaba

Abstract

This study aims at understanding the meaning of integrated education to former students of Agricultural Technique integrated to high-school at the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, Santa Teresa Campus. This study takes into account the impressions and experiences of former students about the course taken; the analysis of the curricular structure of the agricultural technique course; the context of concepts and practice of integrated education regarding performance of former students in the labor market and the identification of existing connections between integrated education and professional performance of former students. Thus it verifies the integration between high-school and technical education based on the concepts of complexity and transdisciplinarity from the perspective of education as preparation to the labor market. The data were obtained by means of questionnaires, which were analyzed qualitative and quantitatively; and interviews that were exposed through content analysis approach. The universe of former students was made up of 221 individuals, who finished their courses in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Forty-six (46) of them answered the mixed questionnaire and 6 participated in semistructured interviews. The results allowed us to access information about the former students’ current professional situation, their possible continued education, and the influence of integrated education in this process. In this setting, we identified the importance of education as an instrument for decision-making and building former students’ identities. We also verified the significance of learning beyond the school curriculum and the duality between high-school and technical education as factors present in integrated education, in the path and context experienced by former students.