"Frases sem pensamentos permanecem no chão": um experimento com Shakespeare na escola pública

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is an action research that proposes an experimental didactic sequence based on The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, most well-known play by William Shakespeare. Based on the following research problem “how is it possible to work with classical drama in the public school system, in Brazilian, promoting an ethical/aesthetical education?”, we have conducted this pedagogical experience during an academic year in a third year class of a high school in a state school of Santa Maria-RS. Our objectives are: to analyze the actions’ effects on these students; to reframe literature and drama teaching/learning process in class; to develop literary reading skills; to foster activities that lead to students’ disinhibition and improvement of their interpersonal relationships; to promote, role playing to students, based on the reading of Hamlet full text, developing alterity; to compare Brazilian literature and literature from other places; and to map some of the problems found in class during this action research, due to explain how they have been overcome, especially when it comes to reading activities. In this action research, students have done activities related to pre-reading, reading and the interpretation and analysis of the play, in addition to creating their own adaptation in order to be staged at school. In order to theoretically base our work, we have also elaborated a presentation of the author and his time, a problematization of the literature role in classroom nowadays and a discussion on the relationship between theater and education, aiming to contextualize and make students aware of the valuable object of study that we are using. During this process, we have identified some problems at different levels: focused on student; on classroom practices; on school; and on Brazilian education structure. Among them, we list a difficulty in reading and understanding literary texts, lack of background reading, lack of aloud reading practices, problems in memorizing lines and in thinking as characters while staging, stating - in terms of the working hours of the subjects related to art - little space for aesthetic education and the proposing a utilitarian and contentist paradigm in the disciplines of literature and art. As a result, we have observed an improvement in students' reading ability both silently and out loud, the development of literary reading awareness and the promotion of an aesthetic education, alterity, disinhibition and collaborative work, positively impacting their performance in other disciplines. An objective indicator of the results of this action research is the school's rating at the National High School Exam (ENEM): compared to the previous year, the school's position in the state has risen from 400th to 280th place. Students’ grades on objective issues in the areas of Languages and Humanities have improved significantly as well. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.