A watchful eye on the manifestations of human intelligence in everyday school life

Abstract

Researchers from different areas, from anthropology to neuroscience, have studied human intelligence. But it is in the school environment that these studies have great impact. The conception that those who can’t learn are not intelligent are still found in schools. Experiencing the everyday school, we faced with a large variation among the cognitive abilities of different students, what demanded a more detailed investigation. The objective of this study was to identify manifestations of intelligent behaviors in schoolchildren, and to interpret the intelligence concept of teachers, in a public school at Sorocaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The research considered three moments: interventions proposed to the students, observations and interviews, qualitative analysis. The research also aimed at understanding the access routes to knowledge expressed by students during the act of learning, as well as those offered by teachers in the act of teaching.