ABSTRACT
Nonattendance, truancy and dropping out of school represent a social problem in legislation that regulates the universal access to education. The present study sought to identify social representations that a student, with a history of school nonattendance, had about the school and how much such meanings contributed to strengthen or weaken his school bond. For this purpose, a teenager in the 1st grade high school, aged 16, was the participant in the study. Data were collected by a semi-structured interview, free drawing, field diary and free observation. Information analysis was based on Creswell’s proposal, from which three themes emerged: (a) School nonattendance as an adjunct to a context; (b) Rescue of virtuous potentialities: a look at singularity and (c) School as a place of strengthening virtuous potentialities. Our results indicated that the school was represented by the student in a different way according to each school experience. Thus, it is necessary for schools to be spaces that consider the singularities and needs of their students.
Keywords:
School; case study; social representation