Polarização política e disseminação de informações falsas na era da internet: impactos na educação escolar

Abstract

This dissertation investigates two phenomena that have become common and widely debated after the invention and massification of the internet: the dissemination of false information and political polarization with hate speech. The central theme and object of this work is to describe the means by which both phenomena, present in the virtual environment, can mix with the daily life of the classroom and interfere in the teaching-learning process. Based on this, the main objectives are to analyze how and why these discourses present on social networks reach the school context, to reflect on the role of school education in the formation of students from a Freirean perspective, and to identify what changes could be applied in the near future in order to strengthen the academic debate on the subject and influence public policies regarding the topics addressed. This is a qualitative research study that involves a literature review, encompassing books, articles, and dissertations, on the two main areas related to this work: education and political science. In education, various authors in the field are explored, based on the theoretical framework of Paulo Freire, who, as a symbol of the liberating pedagogical movement, has as its pillars concepts directly linked to the object of this work, such as: the inseparability of politics and education, the non-existence of "neutral pedagogy" or individuals free from biases, the formation of critical-reflective thinking through dialogicity, how both media outlets and traditional schools can be used to domesticate the masses, and that liberating education is the path to "unveiling" reality and striving for a more just society with autonomous individuals. To reinforce the educational field, current political science textbooks are used in parallel, particularly those directly connected to the object of study, and the object is contextualized according to recent history and its technological, social, political, and economic changes. The dissertation is justified by the argument that the phenomena described in the object of study imply the emergence of dangers for individuals and existential threats to humanity, such as the denial of the existence of anthropogenic climate change, or anti-vaccine movements. These issues are combined with the fact that, since the internet is a recent invention, studies on how and why the internet and social networks interact with and interfere with daily school life are also recent. Using the described theoretical framework and articles and dissertations found through a state-of-the-art study, this work argues that Freirean pedagogy, despite emerging in the 20th century, is extremely relevant today for discussing technologies and challenges of the present time. Freire's critique of the banking model of education has never been more relevant, as the internet reveals how outdated an educational model is that proposes the school as the sole holder of information to be deposited into the student's mind, while the internet instantly provides an immeasurably greater amount of information than all that is contained in the school curriculum. Therefore, it is suggested that the school needs to assume a leading role in combating hate speech and the dissemination of false information, from the moment it ceases to focus on banking education and begins to teach students to construct their own knowledge. The student's education becomes about forming students who think about the world in a critical and reflective way, know how to filter out false information because they possess media literacy, know how to "read the world," and live according to Freire’s “práxis”.