Processos formativos e historicidade de estudantes de meia-idade no Curso de Pedagogia da Universidade Federal do Ceará: contextos sociais e trajetória acadêmica

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis aims to analyze the formative process of three middle-aged students enrolled in the Pedagogy program at the Federal University of Ceará, considering the social contexts that shape their academic trajectories and influence their access to, retention in, and experiences within higher education. The study includes the author’s autobiographical narrative, as she entered university at the age of 44, as a constitutive element of the analysis, enabling the articulation of lived experience with an understanding of the challenges and meanings attributed to education in midlife.The research is characterized as qualitative in approach and bibliographical and reflective in nature, employing the autobiographical narrative as a methodological resource in dialogue with theoretical studies on education, social inequalities, ageism, and teacher education. The theoretical framework is grounded in authors such as Paulo Freire (1996, 2020) and Karl Marx (2007, 2010, 2011), whose contributions support the understanding of the social determinants underlying the main difficulties faced by students aged 40 and over in undergraduate education, while also highlighting education and knowledge as allies in the construction of critical consciousness and personal and professional emancipation.The results indicate that, despite the multiple nuances experienced by mature students in the Pedagogy program, they maintain high levels of commitment and strong academic performance, overcoming obstacles arising from their social realities. This invites reflection on the importance of valuing this group and reinforces the role of the university as a space for inclusion, recognition, and protagonism in midlife.