Percepções dos Alunos do Ensino Básico sobre a Arte e a Criatividade na Escola: um Estudo em Documentário

Abstract

This dissertation analyses the perceptions of elementary and middle school students in Portugal regarding creativity and the place of the Arts in the school context. Starting from the apparent contradiction between the formal valorisation of creativity in educational literature and the peripheral position of artistic disciplines in the curriculum, this work seeks to understand how students interpret the relationships between creativity, assessment, and academic content. The research adopted a qualitative methodology based on a documentary constructed from interviews with twenty-seven students, including four guardians and one Elementary Education teacher. The documentary functioned simultaneously as an instrument for data collection and analysis and allowed for capturing rhetorical and expressive dimensions of the participants' perceptions. The results reveal the internalization of hierarchies that privilege subjects such as Mathematics and Portuguese, while the Arts are frequently understood by students as secondary or intended only for those seeking artistic careers. Nevertheless, the participants valued creativity and demonstrated a preference for more autonomous forms of assessment, also recognizing the importance of the pedagogical relationship in creative development. It is concluded that, although the Arts occupy a marginal place in the school experience, it remains present, even if implicitly, in the interests and practices of students. It is expected that this will contribute to a reflection on pedagogical and learning assessment practices.