Abstract

SOARES, Célia  and  JESUINO, Jorge Correia. What does it take to be the head of the group?: Social representations of power in school context. Temas psicol. [online]. 2011, vol.19, n.1, pp. 99-119. ISSN 1413-389X.

The present paper focuses on the development of children's representations about social life at school context, specifically on relationships of power. The epistemic and theoretical framework of this research is anchored in the approach of Genetic Social Psychology through the Theory of Social Representations. It presents one study, conducted with 153 primary school children (1st and 4th grades), with interviews, which aimed not only at analyzing the social constructions elaborated around that topic, but also the processes of development which underlie it. Results clearly show the role of school social participation and gender processes in the development of social knowledge. The ideas about power show the influence of gender relationships and gender representations, namely through its ideological dimensions, and also from the symbolic regimes of schools. This research has highlighted the relationship between collective and individual processes and its impact on the genesis and development of children's social representations.

Keywords : Social representations; Power relations; Gender; Development; School context.

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