Cultura digital e educação profissional e tecnológica: ferramentas pedagógicas para a educação de jovens e adultos

Abstract

This work discusses the relationship between Digital Culture and Vocational and Technological Education (VTE), investigating how digitalization influences corporate control over technical training and the development of digital skills in students. The research starts from the premise that VTE, a result of historical struggles of the working class, needs to balance preparation for the market with a broad and critical education. In this context, digital culture emerges both as a tool of control and as a means of emancipation. The study analyzes the historical trajectory of VTE in Brazil, arguing that, despite legal advances such as the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (LDBEN) of 1996, VTE still faces challenges, such as the influence of capital, which tends to limit training to specific market needs. The theoretical framework addresses the formative conceptions present in Youth and Adult Education (EJA-VTE), contrasting the welfare and compensatory vision with more critical and emancipatory approaches, inspired by Paulo Freire. The importance of integrated education as a guiding principle is discussed, seeking to articulate general and professional education, overcoming the fragmentation of knowledge. The research also investigates the identity of EJA-EPT (Youth and Adult Education - Professional and Technological Education) participants, recognizing them as workers with prior knowledge and life experiences that should be valued. Regarding teaching work, the text points to the need for teachers to adopt a critical and emancipatory stance, overcoming paternalistic views and seeking continuing education that enables them to use digital culture in a pedagogical and transformative way. Finally, the work proposes that, for EPT to be an agent of transformation, digital culture should be used not only as a technical tool, but as an object of critical analysis, promoting the autonomy of students and teachers and ensuring digital competencies.