Entre demandas e invisibilidades: velhos(as) de Fortaleza e suas expectativas sobre a Educação Profissional e Tecnológica

Abstract

Education, work and professionalization are rights of the elderly population, however these aspects are not yet a reality for them. Although a large percentage of old people remain working, contribute financially to the financial support of their homes and present demands for professionalization, in the social imaginary, education and work are incongruent elements for old people, which, among other factors, contributes to the absence of initiatives and researches aimed at the Professional and Technological Education of this age group. Thus, the general objective of the research was to understand the expectations of the elderly regarding Professional and Technological Education based on the meanings of the educational process for the aforementioned participants. To achieve this objective, we systematize the demands of the elderly in relation to Professional and Technological Education; we know the access of older people to Professional and Technological Education; we identified potentialities and specificities of this public in terms of Professional and Technological Education and we proposed a didactic guide, as an educational product, whose proposal deals with the PTE offered to the elderly. To this end, we used a qualitative approach based on field research. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were applied with elderly people participating in the Elderly Project of the 21st Century: conectivid@des, developed by the Social Service of Commerce (Sesc) in the city of Fortaleza-CE. The research found as results intergenerationality as a strategy and challenge for the construction of an anti-age society, retirement and free time as essential aspects in education for old age; digital literacy as a tool for social participation and prevention of the violation of the rights of older people; and the need to promote Professional and Technological Education from a gerontological perspective.