Entre rios e banzeiros: navegando pela educação digital em uma escola ribeirinha da Amazônia paraense interconectada em complexidade

Abstract

Complexity refers to a mode of thinking woven from relationships, whose very constitution integrates contributions from systems theory, cybernetics theory, and information theory. It helps us to perceive and embrace the complexity of reality through diverse knowledge systems, various understandings of life, and knowledge that does not neglect the imaginary dimension, as it is interwoven into our universe of investigation. Accordingly, this research was designed to respond to the following question: How can the Epistemology of Complexity contribute to the reframing of Digital Education in the context of riverine schools in the Amazon region of Pará, Brazil? In this sense, the general objective of this thesis is to analyze how the interconnection of the Epistemology of Complexity can contribute to the reframing of digital education in the context of Amazonian riverine schools. The investigative focus was placed on the Amazonian community of Maripá, located in the Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve, in the municipality of Santarém, state of Pará. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach, with an applied nature, and procedures rooted in participatory research practices. Data production stems from the perceptions of teachers and, at times, from the researcher herself. The research was developed in two phases: The first phase involved participant observation techniques, including activities carried out during strategic meetings. The second phase consisted of sessions guided by the stages of Design Thinking, which enabled a deeper understanding of participants' perceptions and interactions, complemented by the application of a questionnaire. For data analysis, the study utilized the ATLAS.ti software during the first phase for preliminary coding, and Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA) in convergence with the software in the second phase. Both procedures contributed to organizing and interpreting the findings based on five assumptions, three of which are aligned with the principles of the Epistemology of Complexity: Recursivity the notion of living reconfiguration; Dialogic the articulation between reason and emotion; Hologrammatic principle. And two other assumptions related to transdisciplinarity and experiential outcomes: Process-Project and the transdisciplinary attitude; (Re)framing of the digital self. The investigated universe was supported by the theoretical foundation of the Epistemology of Complexity, as proposed by Edgar Morin, his interlocutors, and other sources grounded in the dialogue between machine and human being, education and Digital Media and Technologies, and studies on education in the Amazon region, such as: Simondon (2007), Moreira; Shlemmer (2020), Buckingham (2020), Cruz Junior (2020), Andrade (2024). The trajectory of public policies aimed at technology in riverine schools historically shows that education with technologies, when disconnected from the human, cultural, and organizational conditions of these environments, tends not to fully achieve its goals. On the other hand, the research results, in the light of Complexity, demonstrate that participants act as reflective and inventive subjects, capable of developing innovative and contextualized digital educational activities, even in settings marked by structural limitations. They engage with simple technologies, such as mobile phones and web apps, in the germination of a critical digital literacy interconnected with local knowledge and sustainability elements that can greatly contribute to a socio-digital reality and to reimagining the education of the future. This study outlines possibilities for a Digital Education aligned with the complex reality of schools situated in the forest, conceived as a networked process that reconnects knowledges and values those revealed and built through collective practices, such as the puxiruns a practice deeply embedded in the riverine way of being.