THE PRODUCTION OF DIFFERENCE AND LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract

This paper was written with the intention of discussing the understanding of two schoolteachers, concerning the concept of difference, and analyzing the implications of this understanding on the relationship between the teachers and their students, and on the students© learning process. We take the view that difference and learning are produced through social interaction, and that these, a priori, are not formative. To emphasize our point, we argue that the understanding of the concept of difference, constructed by means of day-to-day experience, needs to be disentangled from this day-to-day vision, in order to enable teachers to understand the actions involved in personal relationships and/or educational interaction. Based on the differences in perception of two teachers in relation to the same student, we selected fragments of situations of interaction in the classroom relating to the object of analysis. We conclude that formative social interactions depend on conditions which make them favorable for a healthy process of production of difference and learning. We also believe that discriminatory conceptual categories generate conformism and passivity, while respectful, egalitarian categories generate involvement, flexibility and participation. Therefore, the latter are more desirable for the process of human and individual development.