HEALTH AS A THEME IN SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION: DIALOGUE WITH THE CRITICAL FRIEND IN A SELF-STUDY

Abstract

In Brazil, health is considered a citizen's right and although there is a National Health System, the quality of this care is impaired by social inequality. Since its origin in schools, Physical Education teaching has been defended for its importance in improving the population's health, sometimes understood in a reductionist way. In the last decades, authors based on Paulo Freire's work have adopted a critical perspective of Physical Education and argued about the importance of expanding the conception of health, based on collective health. From this perspective, the objective of this study was to describe and analyze the self -study conducted by the teacher author, during the implementation and evaluation of a didactic proposal for teaching health -related topics, in Physical Education classes for high school students. The author chose to investigate his own practice, adopting self -study as a methodology. The set of information included the recording of classes taught by the author and the dialogue with his critical friend, developed through virtual documents that helped him produce a thematic analysis. The results of this study highlight the influence of context on the students' understanding of the theme, the limits of the teacher as a knowledge mediator, the importance of self -study in the development and awareness of the teacher, and the benefits of the critical friend in the analytical reflections of pedagogical practice. In conclusion, a thematic approach to expanded health is fundamental to achieving the school's social function in the education of a critical and reflective citizen.