The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted education in various ways. The sudden closure of schools and the shift to remote teaching strategies presented challenges related to maintaining the quality of teaching work and the relationships developed in these contexts. Emergency measures such as social isolation, aimed at containing the virus transmission and preserving essential resources, significantly impacted the foundational goal of Early Childhood Education, which is to promote human development through caregiving, education, and fostering interaction and socialization among children and babies. After a prolonged period of remote activities and a gradual return to in-person classes, the adoption of safety measures and monitoring within the school community remains necessary for classroom activities. Despite the World Health Organization's declaration in May 2023 that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency, it is essential to remember that the virus has not disappeared. Precautions remain crucial, especially in Early Childhood Education settings. Amidst this prolonged period of uncertainty and instability, teaching has become the center of significant discussions. Changes in routines, relationships with schools, teaching methods, and new classroom practices have profoundly affected the role of educators. The necessity to establish alternative ways of engaging with schools, teaching, and students led teachers at various levels to experience profound processes of redefining themselves as human beings and educators. This brought about changes in the teacher's self-concept, social role, and pedagogical practices. The teaching experience during the pandemic raised a crucial question that guided this research project: How did Early Childhood Education teachers perceive themselves as professionals and creative individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how did they redefine their multiple self-views following the end of the public health emergency related to the pandemic? Informed by Socio-Cultural Psychology and the cultural foundations of creativity, the main objective of this study was to understand: (a) how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the development of the teacher's self-concept in the Early Childhood Education context over its duration, (b) what redefinitions teachers experienced in relation to their creative processes, and (c) the emergence of new approaches and strategies adopted in the classroom by teachers, considering the personal transformations they underwent. The study involved three Early Childhood Education teachers from a public school in Brasília, Brazil, including one male and two female teachers aged between 40 and 60, each with more than 15 years of teaching experience. The data collection process included the analysis of school documents, observations of interactions in the classroom (both in-person and virtual), teachers' narratives about challenges during the pandemic, and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that, despite creativity manifesting differently in each teacher, its emergence was fundamental in the strategies employed in the classroom, contributing significantly to their professional development. With the need for the transformation of the school environment, teachers, despite facing conflicts, negotiated their meanings, allowing new perceptions and meanings about themselves. This occurred through reflection on the social recognition of the teacher's work and personal efforts in living and teaching in a completely unprecedented environment, marked by isolation and demanding situations.

The central objective of the thesis is to analyze how academic guidance and teaching in a strictu sensu postgraduate program is subjectively configured by the professor. The research was carried out in the Professional Master's Degree in Professional and Technological Education – ProfEPT of the Postgraduate Program in Professional and Technological Education in the National Network of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology and a teacher-advisor participated. The research had as its theoretical contribution the Theory of Subjectivity from a cultural-historical perspective that understands subjectivity as a typically human production that takes place in culture, led by the individual. The research was developed using the Constructive-Interpretative Methodology, the information for analysis was generated from conversational dynamics guided by a semi-structured script. The analysis was guided by the interpretative construction of indicators and hypotheses relating to the subjective configuration of guidance and orientation. We conclude that academic guidance and teaching are constituted by the experiences lived by the teacher-advisor in teaching practices and the guidance practice at ProfEPT.

Teachers face uncertainties in their classroom work, particularly when students ask questions they have no ready answer for or conflicts arise. Although many teachers have been told to avoid controversial topics, in today's polarized world, it is not a matter of if but when they will encounter situations of uncertainty or conflict. This reality heightens tensions in teachers' practices: Should they engage in difficult conversations with students or avoid them? Considering this scenario, the research aimed to identify and analyze possible shifts in teachers’ perspectives and positionings regarding how to manage uncertainties and conflict involving prejudices and other sensitive topics, by creating and holding an extension course on conflict resolution in the classroom. Moreover, we aimed to consider the teachers’ ideas regarding the implementation of concrete actions and social practices to improve the de-escalation of conflicts and controversial issues in their classrooms. To achieve this, a qualitative study was conducted anchored in the theoretical and epistemological foundations of Cultural Psychology and Dialogical Paradigm. Both theoretical stances understand human phenomena as complex, dynamic, and interdependent with culture and context. An eight-week focus group with thirteen Middle and High School teachers was conducted online. The meetings were structured adapt and changed according participants’ contributions and inputs. Three individual interviews were also conducted to gather feedback, understand their experiences and the impact (if any) of meetings. The rich data set coconstructed in this research was organized into two key axes of analysis: horizontal, providing a broad view of the data across the sessions, and vertical, focusing on individual participant analyses. We traced and articulated the participants' movements in dialogue across the meetings, identifying tensions, contradictions, agreements; and analyzed the nuances of their perspectives and positionings regarding conflicts and uncertainties they faced. Our findings revealed that teachers' primary challenges were less connected to teacher-student interactions and more connected to the kaleidoscope of complex relations that stemmed from macro (structural and institutional) levels, and poured into the micro-level relations they had to navigate. Fear and uncertainties about possible institutional reprimands, or of losing control of the class were some of the concerns that surfaced. Hypergeneralized cultural messages, institutional constraints, lack support and training came up as barriers for the teachers even to try implement a dialogical practices in class. This is why, in translating dialogical intentions into practice, we need to emphasize the affective dimension. Horizons of possibilities emerged from the collective meaning-making processes during participants’ interactions; where indicators of openness were identified, which could bring them out of the overwhelming uncertainty towards a greater engagement with what was possible at each moment. Shifts in participants’ perspectives and positionings were also identified, which we interpreted as indicative of micro-process of change – a fruitful developmental construct. We conclude highlighting that efforts in the direction of cocreating a welcoming affective-semiotic atmosphere are essential to the development of a democratic education. Teachers are more able to navigate uncertainties inherent to pedagogical and dialogical practices when they rely on this constructive atmosphere.

This study investigated educators, professionals from the pedagogical team and managers perceptions on teachers´ creativity, in a continuous education context. The potential of this space for individual and group development is recognized, once one may observe practices that are collaborative and dialogical, as well as interactions and exchanges among professionals. These interactions influence collaborative practices and are influenced by them; confront ideas and actions; and mobilize personal and social, internal, and external resources to achieve objectives. Therefore, this research was carried out in a pu-blic school in Brasília - Federal District, in the early years of elementary school, and it was developed in two stages. The observation stage was carried out during continuous education meetings, with the presence of 24 school professionals. The interview stage included a sample of 10 professionals from the management and pedagogical teams, and teachers. The general objective of the thesis was to investigate the perception of professionals from the management/pedagogical team and teachers on teacher's creativity in the context of continuous education, as well as the potential emergence of creativity during communication among these professionals. The specific objectives were: a) Investigate tea-chers' perception in relation to the incentive to their creativity in the context of continuous education; b) Investigate the perception of professionals from the management/pedagogical team regarding the incentive they eventually promote to teachers' creativity in the context of continuous education; c) Analyze the potential emergence of teachers' creativity during communication situations between ma-nagers and teachers. Thus, a qualitative research approach of an exploratory and descriptive nature was applied, in which we sought to understand creativity in its collective sense, without underestima-ting individual creativity, but seeing creativity as a spread phenomenon, which connects people to other people, to their community and the world. The following research strategies were used: semi-structured interviews, observation, and a field diary. Thematic analysis was adopted, as it allows fle-xibility in identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns (themes) within qualitative data. The results of the study indicate that the continuous education environment can contribute to teacher´s creativity, and open space for a closer look at the collaborative practices that take place within this process. In the case of the investigated context, creativity is stimulated, mainly, driven by an action that goes from the individual level to a collective construction and, therefore, the environment, which will again feed in-dividual action. Dialogue appeared as the main form of communication, potentially capable of boos-ting individual and collective action, driven by intentions that add up and strengthen themselves during the regular, everyday school life. However, one may not disregard challenges related to the teacher and the environment.

The relationship of friendship in childhood has been seen in the literature as a form of significant socialization that contributes to several aspects of the child's development (Adams & Quinones, 2020, Petrina et al., 2014, Ricardo & Rossetti, 2011). Due to the way the studies were carried out, it is still not possible to know what children with autism consider friendship, how to develop and maintain it Rodríguez-Medina et al. (2018). To define the term friendship and its characteristics, most studies did not consider the experiences of people with autism (Valle and Ribas, 2021), nor different perspectives Petrina et al. (2014) nor observation in a natural environment (Petrina et al., 2014 & Rodríguez-Medina et al., 2018). The objective of this research is to understand how the process of development of friendships Universidade de Brasília - UnB Instituto de Psicologia – IP Programas de Pós-Graduação do IP occurs in children with ASD in early childhood, in situations of interaction with their peers in the school context. Qualitative methodology was used, longitudinal cut, based on Case Study and on Data Analysis. The participants were two children from the first year of elementary school with ASD, the class children who interacted with them, the responsible educators and their parents. The information collection procedures were: (1) exploratory study of three days for the researcher to become familiar with the context of the institution, making free observations and with a written record in a research diary; (2) an interview following a semi-structured script with the class educators and parents; (3) video recordings of moments of free interaction between the children, frequently between once and twice a week, lasting between one and four hours a day, for 12 weeks; and (4) a conversation following a semi-structured script, individually with children with autism and their possible friends. The analysis of the information was carried out in a microgenetic way. A table was created with categories and subcategories of friendship characteristics and their development, based on the above sources of information, on the literature review and on the work of Adams and Quinones (2020). This table was used to analyze the transcription of the interviews and of the videotaped episodes, obtaining information about the characteristics of friendship. The content of the interviews and the researcher's observation were also used to analyze the specific objectives of the study. The research diary notes were used in a complementary way. It was possible to understand how the friendship development of children with autism occurs and to improve the conceptualization of friendship, pointing out the qualitative differences present from the experience of children with autism and their support network. The school environment and adult mediation can favor the development of friendship. It is considered that it was possible to contribute to the theoretical-methodological advance of scientific investigations on the subject. Future studies may propose improved inclusive practices in the school context that include the friendship of children as a whole, in addition to investigating the friendship of children with autism at different ages and contexts they attend.

The last count of the Demographic Census in Brazil carried out in 2010 indicated that 86.8% of the Brazilian population is Christian. Considering that Christianity offers several meanings about female identity and that such meanings function as guiding rules of society, we propose as a general objective of this study to analyze how Christian cultural meanings intertwined in Brazilian culture affect the constitution of self in black women. The theoretical outline refers to Cultural Psychology, Historical-Cultural Psychology and contemporary studies of gender, race and religion. The research information was constructed through narrative interviews and focus groups composed of Christian black women and non-Christian black women, and analyzed through Dialogical Thematic Analysis. The research results showed that Christian religiosity has a great influence on the self-constitution of all women participating in the research, even those who do not follow Christianity. The study also enabled the understanding of how religious institutions can produce relevant cultural meanings in the expressions of gender and race.

Studying the elderly, black and female population implies the need to understand their experiences, based on the knowledge that the experience of aging is not universal, since people occupy different spaces in the world based on the culture, history and contexts of a country or region. In a country so marked by inequality and structural oppression, human development and social aspects cannot be analyzed separately. The Theory of Social Representations works as an important tool for investigating the meanings that women attribute to this combination of gender, race and generation. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the social representations constructed by elderly black women, residents of the Federal District, about the aging process itself. This study uses a mixed methodology, dialoguing with quantitative and qualitative methods. It is a crosssectional research and also an exploratory work. Thirty-one black women residing in the Federal District, aged from 60 years and older, were interviewed, seeking to understand the social representations that these women constructed about their respective aging processes as women, black and elderly. For the purposes of analyzing the collected data, the IRaMuTeQ software was used, which offers a set of descriptive tools for analyzing the textual corpus. The average age of the participants was 68.8 years old, and the interviews lasted, on average, 35 minutes. Among the interviewees, 90.3% of the sample is not currently in a romantic relationship, and approximately half of the interviewed women did not reach higher education. In addition, most of the participants live in the Administrative Regions of the Federal District, and not in the central region, Brasília. Three analyzes were built using the software: the Dendrogram of Descending Hierarchical Classification (CHD), the Factor Analysis of Correspondences and the Word Cloud. The Dendogram divided the speeches into three large classes: class 1 (Intrapersonal Experiences), class 2 (Memories and Projections) and class 3 (Becoming Black). Classes 1 and 3 are subclasses of class 2. The Factorial Analysis of Correspondences showed the strongly independent character of the three stable classes, and the Word Cloud highlighted that, although the semi-structured interview questions were about aging and blackness, the words referring to aging and its derivations appear in more peripheral positions; already the terms about blackness, more to the center. From the interviews, it is highlighted that the social representations of the participants regarding aging and blackness were constructed and exposed through the stories they told about xiii their youth, their current moment and their expectations about the future reality. Denial was also noticeable as a recurring element in the speeches. The word “no” occupied the center of the Word Cloud, and the analysis from IRaMuTeQ indicates that, although women deny the personal experience of racism (class 1; Intrapersonal Experiences), they recognize that there is a difference in the social organization between white and black people (Class 3; Becoming Black). Many women interviewed listed physical difficulties and prejudice as the main elements of old age as a life stage. That is, the social representations they have about this period are portrayed by the idea of disability, disuse and prejudice. With regard to racial experiences, most of the interviewees denied that blackness was a challenging factor in their lives, but, as the interview takes place, they contradicted themselves and reported having experienced violent situations linked to their racial identities, categorizing them. as “bullying” and perhaps distancing themselves from the pain caused by racism. It can be seen, then, that part of the social representations built by the participants about their respective aging processes as black women was permeated by denial – either in a tone of conformism and impossibilities, with regard to aging; either in the sense of moving away from possible damages, within the racial aspects. Therefore, it is evident that the investigation of the phenomenon of aging should not be based on the search for universality, but on the effort to understand the nuances of each reality, especially in a country as diverse and continental as Brazil. Based on the findings of this research, it is suggested that new studies be developed that consider intersectional aging, understanding the multiple realities and contexts that can impact the way people reach old age.

The socio-emotional development of babies in Early Childhood Education institutions represents the guarantee of a right, due to its impact on human development, learning and human formation, and has been increasingly studied by Psychology. Recent research finds, however, difficulties regarding pedagogical intentionality and responsiveness in relation to the emotional aspect of infants. The present study longitudinally analyzes the emotional manifestations of babies transitioning to very young children in the naturalistic environment of the daycare center they attend, from a perspective of HistoricalCultural Psychology, with the contributions of the Object Pragmatic Theory, which considers as a unit of analysis the triadic relationships between subject-object-subject. In this way, the main objective is to identify and understand how emotional manifestations appear, the contexts and reasons involved, in order to build knowledge and effective tools to support teachers. To this end, 6 video recordings were made, each lasting 1 hour, on regular days in a nursery room. The recordings were separated into 10 episodes that showed affective cycles based on triadic relationships, provocative of observable emotional manifestations. The 10 episodes were analyzed microgenetically, resulting in the creation of categories emerging from observation, as well as the identification of subjective experiences. In total, 29 expressions were considered emotional, the longest lasting being looking, crying, smiling, walking/running, clasping hands and frowning. The proportion between vocal, facial and limb manifestations showed great variability in each episode, as well as the diversity of subjective experiences, such as expectation, dispute, satisfaction, discomfort, anger, sadness, serenity, comfort and joy. Therefore, this reinforces the need for specific ongoing training for teachers and more research in the area.

Important achievements such as quotas for black, indigenous, and for students from state high schools, the implementation of a universal system of access to universities through the National High School Exam (ENEM), along with the creation of new campuses and universities in places where there were no such institutions, have favored the inclusion of members of historically marginalized groups in the Brazilian public higher education landscape. However, they have not eliminated the various forms of exclusion that can occur in public higher education in Brazil. Making the university environment favorable for the integration of those who participate in it is one of the great challenges of universities today, shared by all those who believe in their potential to transform individuals and societies. Taking into account that human development occurs through the bidirectional relationship between subject and culture, the scope of this study was to understand, from decolonial and dialogic theoretical perspectives, from the narratives and performances negotiated in the context of an extension project/intervention research, in what way the mishaps in the academic path of college students—coming from groups historically marginalized from higher education—are related to processes of dehumanization/coloniality. The project/intervention was composed of fourteen dialogical meetings (seven remote conversation rounds and seven face-to-face artistic workshops). It involved nine students from a public university institution, aged between 18 (eighteen) and 34 (thirty-four) years, among whom were some with serious academic difficulties: the researcher; a student majoring in Psychology receiving a scholarship for their participation in the project; and friends and family members of the students who eventually participated in some of the meetings. At the end of the action, an interview was conducted with a participant of the intervention—who went through a process of academic disconnection and reintegration. The empirical indicators were gathered and organized into two intertwined dimensions of analysis: one institutional and one personal. The first comprised the analysis and discussion of the meanings co-constructed by all members of the project/intervention—including the researcher—concerning university culture, with emphasis on practices and relationships. The data were systematized in four scenarios, highlighting the tensions, ambiguities, and feelings of ambivalence inherent to the polyphony of the group at the frontier between university and society: 1) extension students and teachers in the classroom and in other teaching-learning spaces; 2) extension students and their colleagues in the classroom and in other spaces of coexistence in the university; 3) extension students in the student collectives and in other policy-making spaces within the university; and 4) extension students, their friends, and family members: on the border university and other sectors of society. The second dimension concerns the results related to the personal development processes of the interviewed student. Initially, a characterization of the student was made, and then the analyses of their dynamic positions were exposed. The extension project/intervention, built in solidarity with those involved and committed to the dialog of subjects and knowledge, favored the visualization not only of the rhetoric of success and emancipation, the "A side", celebratory, linked to the idea of modernity deeply rooted in universities; but also its "B side", dark, antidialogical and prejudiced, which collaborates to promote dehumanization/coloniality. More importantly, the second dimension attests that active participation in the project enabled the interviewed student, with a history of disconnection and reintegration to university, to achieve more dialogical, self-understanding, and responsible positions, as opposed to restrained, failed and resentful ones; evidencing the synthesis of an agentive positioning in face of their reality. Finally, the study demonstrated that the promotion of dialogic practices in public universities favors humanization, and concomitantly, can contribute to the integration of students from groups historically excluded from higher education, such as those who co-constructed this study.

This research aimed to analyze the role of gender in dialogical self through an investigation into the development processes of subjects who declare themselves LGBTQIAP+, promoting a theoretical empirical approximation of the Dialogical Self Theory with concepts of queer perspective. Since the late 20th century, social and human sciences have been experiencing an intense critical debate, revising dominant postulates that have historically contributed to the exclusion and pathologization of various subjects, such as LGBTQIAP+, women, blacks, children, and others. Among the transformations triggered by this debate are those related to the concept of identity, which has left behind its Cartesian roots, strongly criticized by perspectives such as post-structuralism, feminism, and philosophy of language. A common aspect of these new perspectives is the conceptualization of human subjectivity in relational terms, emphasizing its interdependence with culture, as well as its concrete character, anchored in context and corporeality. Consequently, social and human sciences are currently witnessing substantial growth in reflections concerning the social positioning of individuals and the power forces crossing their lives, paying special attention to social markers of difference, among which we highlight gender and sexuality. Nevertheless, despite the growth and the important contributions of gender and feminist studies in this debate, psychology's dialog with these perspectives, and its reflections on gender, sexuality, and corporeality, remain modest, usually restricted to a descriptive use of these terms, with little challenge to traditional postulates based on the objectivity of knowledge and a supposed universal subject. Deepening the dialog between psychology and gender studies, which allows us to revisit the concept of subjectivity and, with it, our own theoretical-methodological postulates, is one of the contributions of this work to the critical paradigm in psychology. Drawing from the framework of the dialogical self, and contributions from queer perspective to understanding the role of gender in the construction of the self, we carried out an investigation with three adult LGBTQIAP+ subjects. We sought to analyze the main transformations in the organization of the self related to the process of declaring oneself sexual and/or gender dissident, paying important attention to corporeality. The research was conducted in two stages: the first encompassed two individual interviews, while the second involved a conversation circle. The analysis of the first stage was organized into three dimensions: D1) Interpellations and negotiation with gender norms, which included an instrument called Transversal Matrix; D2) Perception of future, shadows, and imagination; D3) Actors and personal/social relationships, which includes the Map of Self’s Relationships, an instrument that presents the main transformations identified. The data from the conversation circle were used in a dialogical construction of the discussion chapter. Based on the shared experiences, the research attested to the transversality of gender in the self and its intrinsic relationship with corporeality, identifying various challenges that dissident bodies face throughout life. It also showed that the position of declaring oneself LGBTQIAP+ triggers reorganizations in the self that can lead to a repositioning of subjects in their relationship with culture and in the imagination of other existence and future possibilities.

This work aims at understanding how adults understand play in order to recognize the importance of this activity for all stages of human development, especially in adulthood. The research addresses a dialectical historical perspective with the intention to understand the evolution of play in western world, since the relationship between human beings and playing has changed throughout human history. Until the middle ages, playing was an adult activity that children from a very young age shared the same amusements. However, the changes that occurred with the industrial revolution and the bans on games and in Catholic schools games contributed to the way we relate playing in contemporary era. Playing came to be despised by adults and characterized as an activity exclusively for children. The research with a qualitative and participatory approach was carried out by three undergraduates from Psychology course at the University of Brasília who participated in Projeto de Extensão de Ação Continuada Pintando e Bordando (Continuous Action Extension Project Painting and Embroidering), during the second half of 2019 and took place in three stages, observations in the host institutions , supervisory meetings of the extension workers with the project coordinator and semi-structured interviews. These different moments of the research revealed different ways adults conceptualize and experience play, with emphasis on challenges and difficulties faced by adults when visiting the shelter. Concluding that the adult experiences playing in a different way from the child, and still, has difficulty to recognize himself as a player.

This research focused on the processes of resistance and invention of everyday life, produced by people on the street. As source of information it was used narratives built from the life experiences of a man, a former homeless man, who still acts on this context in order to face daily inequalities and the struggle to guarantee the rights of people in situations of extreme social vulnerability. The general objective of this thesis is to comprehend the processes of resistance and the everyday invention of homeless people, and the specific objectives a) explore the political strategies used by homeless people to face everyday problems; (b) investigate the ways of appropriation of the city by homeless people; (c) understand the meanings of being on the street for homeless people. This thesis defends that life on the street can be a creative, powerful and efective life. The theoretical contribution presents a macro and micro-political analysis of homeless people in the brazilian context, characterizing the modes of subjectivation and the city as an existential territory, dialoguing with tools from the french institutionalist field. Methodologically it was used a case study, in which, through Cartography (Deleuze & Guattari, 1995) narratives were constructed about some important moments and events in the life of our research subject. This narratives were recorded in a diary field. The research corpus itself was constituted from two sections, which dialogue between the notes: “Cartography of the routes/paths”, which narrates passages, scenarios and experiences of the research subject; and “Narratives of resistance and invention”, a section based on the notion of analyzers of french socioanalysis, to investigate three lines of analysis. The analyzers/lines of analysis are: “Friendships and everyday life”, which highlights friendship as a central institution in the processes of resistance and invention of everyday life; “Walking as a practice of resistance”, which based on cartographic paths, details how walking is a political device that builds resistance; and “The institutions and the self building processes”, an analyzer wich allowed to comprehend the transformation and autonomy in the streets by the life experience of the research subject. The research concludes that the devices of friendship, walking through the city and institutions available on the streets are central points for the construction of more autonomous ways of life for those who have the streets as the central context of their lives, by building daily ways to resist and invent a life full of life.