A formação do enfermeiro indígena : percepções dos discentes e docentes do curso de graduação – UFMT/SINOP

Abstract

The changes that occur in the contemporary world demand that the universities assume new challenges and point ways to meet the social demands. The inclusion of indigenous students in the higher education courses represents a landmark in this new relationship between the university and the citizen. This study discusses the educational process of indigenous nurses that integrate the Indigenous Inclusion Program - PROIND/UFMT in Sinop, focusing on different perceptions about their academic formation. The study integrates the Social Movements, Politics and Popular Education research line of the Post-graduation Program in Education of the UFMT that discusses and maintains dialogues with different educational themes, including, the social movements, the racial relationships and the specific public policies. Based on this investigative perception, the data collection that subsidized the research occurred through semi-structured interviews that attempted to identify the elements that are part of students’ education in the following thematic areas: the conceptual aspect of Nursing Science; the articulation of the institutional and governmental policy; the curriculum of the course; the preparation of the teacher and the pedagogic practices; and interculturality. The data of the interviews were transcribed, grouped by themes and analyzed in such a way so as to identify the perceptions of the teachers and of the indigenous students. The results obtained indicate that the Nursing Science is perceived as the “science of the care directed to human beings; a wide-ranging science that involves scientific knowledge, technical and professional skill.” When referring to the institutional policy, the interviewees think that the University is not prepared to receive indigenous students be it by limitations in the teachers’ training, or by the monoculturalistic perception of the curriculum of the course which does not meet the new social, cultural and professional demands of the indigenous peoples of the region. The teacher’s training, be it in undergraduate or in the post-graduate degree, does not deal with the multiple aspects of diversity that must be taken into account. The intercultural relationship is not total and, this often, makes the indigenous students’ performance more difficult. The interviewees’ answers indicate that the social and cultural ‘exile’ intensifies the adversities and results in “repressed” behaviors, which influences negatively their educational process. To overcome this situation, the interviewees present some steps that must be taken, among which we highlight: a) that the University prepares professionals based on educational, ethnic and political principles that will face the hegemonic values of the local society; b) that teachers consider the learning dynamics of the indigenous students to help them in the development of their potentialities; c) that the presence of Indians in the undergraduate courses stimulates the University to adjust to the current reality, to develop pedagogical projects open to diversity; d) that the different programs that make up the public policies in the educational field will be better spread and incorporated in the university community as a strategy of consolidation, respect and effective attendance to the increasing demands of the indigenous societies. The inclusion of indigenous students in the higher education courses is related to the rethinking, the reinventing of the relationship between the educational system and the student, since not only the students need to prepare for the university but it also needs to be prepared to meet the social demands and its institutional mission.