Throughout the second semester of 2025, the course “Psychology and Education” (EP226B) consolidated, at the Faculty of Education of Unicamp (FE-Unicamp), an extension experience focused on the articulation between teacher training, public schools, and inclusive education. Under the responsibility of Professor Mara Lopes, from the Department of Educational Psychology (DEPE), the project was designed to integrate the theoretical discussions worked on in the course—with an emphasis on Genetic Epistemology and Historical-Cultural Psychology—with the reports and observations made by undergraduate students in school contexts, often marked by episodes of discrimination and exclusion. Based on this material, the class was invited to transform the pedagogical diagnosis into concrete proposals: didactic-methodological strategies capable of supporting teaching work and fostering inclusive practices in daily school life.
Thematic projects and inclusion as a cross-cutting theme.
The training culminated in the development of 11 thematic projects, organized by groups, each anchored in one of the theoretical approaches discussed in the course. The proposals encompassed different dimensions of inclusion, ranging from working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to ethnic-racial relations, linguistic and cultural diversity, and democratic participation in school. The production of the projects also responded to a recurring challenge identified in the observations: the difficulty in understanding the school as a space for collective construction and democratic conflict resolution—a dynamic that, by limiting student participation, deepens the feeling of not belonging, especially among subjects who are already socially marginalized.
Partnership with EJA (Youth and Adult Education) in Sumaré and the university as a public space.
To give the proposals developed throughout the semester a more practical, outreach-oriented approach, the course established a dialogue with the Youth and Adult Education (EJA) program at the Profª Nilza Thomazini Municipal Elementary School in Sumaré (SP), located in the Matão neighborhood, a peripheral area of the municipality. This connection was made possible through the account of a teacher from the school who is also a student in the Pedagogy program at Unicamp, allowing the project to connect with a real need and an audience frequently distanced from university settings. Considering the limited time to review and return all the materials as pedagogical suggestions to the schools, the course opted to implement, with this group, a set of didactic-methodological strategies adapted to the EJA profile, transforming the projects into a shared experience and an effective encounter between the external community and the public university.
Strategies applied: ancestry, democracy, and playfulness.
Among the proposals developed by the undergraduate students, three were selected and adapted for use with visiting students. The activity "Ancestry is the Present" promoted the appreciation of African culture through storytelling, creating space for listening and collective interpretation. The "Game of Democracy," a board game developed by students based on adaptations of existing games, stimulated argumentation, decision-making, and voting on solutions to school problems, exercising participation as a pedagogical practice and not just as an abstract principle. Finally, the workshop "Indigenous Games," focused on the making and use of the peteca (a traditional Brazilian toy), combined manual production, interaction, and reflection on native cultures, highlighting how play can also be a dimension of inclusion, coexistence, and symbolic reparation.
Formative impacts and social return of outreach.
The extension project of the EP226B course had an impact on two complementary fronts. For the undergraduate students, it represented a complete formative cycle: observation of school practices, theoretical mediation, development of strategies, and application in a real-world situation, with collective organization, autonomy, and shared responsibility. For the adult education students and their teachers, the experience reinforced the university as an accessible public space and a welcoming place, with activities that combined reading, debate, practice, and interaction. In an evaluation subsequently sent by the school, the group highlighted the reception and the feeling of having been welcomed and valued, signaling the importance of actions that bring FE-Unicamp closer to subjects and territories historically distanced from the university environment.
