Abstract:
Education is essential for human, social, and economic development, and its effective realization transcends the simple transmission of information, which, otherwise, will serve economic interests as an instrument of social control rather than the formation of autonomous and emancipated individuals. This is one of the great challenges for educators, as mediators of information, especially in Professional and Technological Education. Based on the assumption that studies on mediation in the field of Information Science have occupied the discussion agenda as a concept arising from the practices of information professionals in response to changes in information environments, the advance of digital technologies and the democratization of access to information, this research seeks to answer the following question: how does the process of information mediation take place within the scope of Professional and Technological Education at the Territorial Center for Professional and Technological Education in Dias d'Ávila, Bahia? In terms of objectives, it is characterized as a descriptive study with a qualitative and quantitative approach, whose universe comprises 62 teachers, only 15 of whom comprise the sample of interest: teachers in the technical area. The general objective is to analyze the pedagogical practices under the dialogical, formative, aesthetic, ethical, and political dimensions of information mediation in the Territorial Center for Professional and Technological Education in Dias d'Ávila in Bahia, in convergence with the teaching practice defended in Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of Autonomy. To this end, it has the following specific objectives: to discuss the concept of work and its relationship with the construction of knowledge and its distribution in society; to present how Professional and Technological Education emerged and developed in Brazil and Bahia, characterizing the School Unit of the Territorial Center for Professional and Technological Education in Dias d'Ávila, where the empirical research was carried out; to relate the concepts of information mediation and its dimensions for social protagonism as conceived by the author Henriette Gomes (dialogic, formative, aesthetic, ethical, political) with the teaching pedagogical practices defended by Paulo Freire in his Pedagogy of Autonomy; to evaluate the teaching practices in in professional and technological education at the Territorial Center for Professional and Technological Education in Dias d'Ávila from the perspective of the 5 dimensions of mediation by freirean pedagogy. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for analysis, systematization, and interpretation. As a result of the research, the data reveals a qualified teaching staff, engaged and committed to pedagogical practices that aim to promote the mediation of information in its various dimensions, providing a technical and humanistic education necessary for the formation of aware citizens capable of becoming agents of social transformation. However, there are still challenges to be overcome, especially concerning student engagement in the training process, underutilization of the library, and the need for greater awareness among teaching staff of the importance of comprehensive training for students beyond technical training.