School Kids Speak Out: the Voice of Secondary Schoolers

In order to develop in-depth knowledge of issues related to secondary education in the Rio de Janeiro municipal school network, the Instituto Desiderata is conducting a survey in which the schoolchildren themselves are the researchers. 

Scheduled for the first half of this year, this initiative will train 120 youngsters in the 8th and 9th grades who will interview 2,400 pupils in the 6th and 7th grades at forty municipal schools.  Teachers and administrators will also be involved and interviewed during this survey.  In addition to exploring a variety of issues presented to these junior high schoolers, this participative research methodology focused on young people is designed to encourage involvement and protagonism, heightening awareness among these young people, with closer interaction and dialogue among the school community.

This project is backed by several partners.  The participative research methodology focused on young people was provided by the Instituto Paulo Montenegro, with the Health Promotion Centre (CEDAPS) as the executive partner for the capacity-building activities, in addition to coordinating the field work handled by these youngsters.  A group of researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro is overseeing the entire process in terms of educational values.  The Municipal Education Bureau (SME) - a crucial partner in this survey - is also monitoring these actions closely.  This survey is designed to cast a qualitative eye on the existing quantitative data, in addition to the information brought in by the survey.  The idea is that the findings should generate input for the preparation of public policies focused on this stage.