From the hidden protest of students towards problem-based learning

This paper presents protests from academically successful students who privately conveyed to the researchers their feelings of personal discontent with schools. The criterion to select this “sample” was that these students, dissatisfied with school but having good marks, would reveal what others, academically less successful, could not express, by not knowing the syllabus as well as those students. However, their complaints are followed by suggestions of changes to be analyzed in this study. Our questions focused especially on the tenth grade, as this grade starts the three-year-cycle preceding university. We attempt to contribute to the issue of teacher education, by focusing on the stream of participative research in educational institutions, conducted by external researchers in cooperation with the institution’s stakeholders, students, and teachers in this study. The data analyzed for this paper came from in-depth interviews conducted, in a non-directive way, with students and their teachers. From the proposals of the students and the comments from teachers, we conclude it is crucial to substantially reduce the predominant teacher-centered methodology of verbal presentation by engaging in students’ activities, including the model of problem-based learning or alike in opposition, in order to rote memorization activities.