ABS103 - Inclusion and retention in Brazilian higher education: Intervention research with a cultural-historical approach

Social inclusion policies have become theme for intense political debate in the context of the Brazilian higher education reforms. By expanding access, students from several social contexts are now part of the university population. Such phenomenon causes tension in the intersubjective relations and creates a greater demand for psychology services. In this sense, our interest is to investigate-intervene-create methodologies, under a Cultural-historical perspective, taking into account the concrete work and life conditions of the students, the psychological processes in transformation. The objective of this work is to present two projects that develop models of intervention based on the Cultural-historical approach, both taking place at the CEAPPE (Center for Assistance and Research in Psychology and Education), at Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil (PermaneSENDO Project: psychology and retention policies at the university; Project Colegas de Estudo: Tutorial Practices among university students to confront learning difficulties). These projects provided assistance to 620 students and trained 45 students until 2015. Such models, aimed at inclusive practices, allow us to make students aware of the social exclusion processes reproduced inside universities, as well as the contradictions of inclusion policies, mobilizing them to take up an active role in the transformation of these contexts.