SPACE AS A SOCIAL PRODUCT AND OMNILATERAL EDUCATION: PERCEPTIONS THROUGH GAMIFICATION

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that analyzed the contributions of a gamified instructional sequence to Integrated High School students’ understanding of space as a social product, as well as how this pedagogical action may affect their perception of Geography in their educational process. It discusses the understandings students held prior to the pedagogical intervention and those developed through it, in addition to how they came to relate this perception to their future professional practice. Following a qualitative, descriptive-explanatory, and intervention-based approach, data were collected through observation and semi-structured interviews and were subsequently subjected to content analysis. The participants were second- and third-year students enrolled in Integrated High School at a public school in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The results showed that, initially, many students perceived space merely as a physical entity, and few established connections between geographic space and professional practice. After the intervention, students came to understand space in its geographic and socio-spatial dimensions, linking this knowledge to their future careers. The gamified instructional sequence broadened students’ perspectives on Geography, making them more critical regarding space as a social product and highlighting its importance for polytechnic education oriented toward the world of work.