Students bonding with school during the Covid-19 pandemic: from the actions of municipal education managers and teachers to the perceptions of students at a public school in São Mateus, ES

Abstract

This study investigates the bonding between students and their municipal elementary schools during the Covid-19 pandemic in São Mateus, ES, identifying pedagogical actions implemented between 2020 and 2021 by school administrators, principals, and teachers to ensure the right to education. Furthermore, the study sought to listen to a group of students from a public municipal school regarding their relationship with the school during the pandemic period. The theoretical framework is grounded in the works of Freire, Kohan, Larrosa, Masschelein and Simons, among others. As a methodological alternative, the research was decided to use listening with administrators from municipal schools in São Mateus – ES, educational technicians, and a teacher from the municipal network, focusing on pedagogical practices and actions taken to ensure and/or promote student bonding with their schools, through semi structured interviews and videoconference meetings, considering that part of the research took place during the quarantine period. With the gradual return to in-person classes, a conversation circle was held with a group of students, followed by the free production of drawings and texts on the themes: “me and school before the pandemic,” “me and school during the pandemic,” and “me and school after the pandemic”. As results, the voices of the research participants affirm that the pandemic not only imposed physical distancing but also exposed and reaffirmed educational inequalities in Brazil: lack of internet access, insufficient digital literacy, and the challenges of remote teaching during the period. Nevertheless,  highlights the importance of time-space school in students' lives—a powerful environment for democratizing knowledge, as well as a space for affection, exchange, and the construction of bonds, as noted in some children's accounts, even considering, as one drawing suggested, that “covid changes the person”.