orest panorama of authorship: the concept of author in basic education

Abstract

 This article analyzes the concept of author constructed by 6th and 9th grade elementary school students, using the metaphor of the “forest panorama of authorship” as an interpretive axis. Linked to ongoing doctoral action research in education, the study sought to understand how students conceptualize authorship, observing the dynamics of actualization and virtualization of this concept, in light of Lévy and Piaget. Twelve students from a municipal public school in southern Brazil participated, organized into two groups corresponding to the school grades investigated. The data were produced through letter writing, conversation circles, collective construction of the “Tree of Authorship” (poster), and digital interaction, and were analyzed according to Discursive Textual Analysis. The results show that 6th-grade students tend to associate the author exclusively with the writer of books, revealing conceptions based on common sense and heteronomous, with low perception of themselves as authors. Ninth-grade students, on the other hand, broaden the concept to “creator of something,” including different languages, media, and, in some cases, artificial intelligence, demonstrating greater reflective abstraction and flexibility in relation to rules. In addition, they partially recognize themselves as authors. It can be concluded that the author's conceptualization directly influences the perception of student authorship and can validate or inhibit authorship in school. The need for intentional pedagogical practices that challenge common sense and promote student awareness as authors is defended.