Ephemeral graphic language: from the blackboard to the students’ repertoire

Abstract

On this article, there is a description of a study concerning the graphic messages created by Brazilian teachers on the blackboard, within the basic education system -denominated by Cadena (2010) as Ephemeral Graphic Language (EpGL). A field research has been conducted in five schools from Recife, and it is discussed, so as the analysis patterns and its results of three main aspects: a) analysis of formal issues of the message; b) categorization of the messages in five kinds of use; and c) comparison of the transcription made by the students of the original message on the blackboard. The conclusion indicates a lack of reflection and attention to the graphic language as an important tool for the construction of knowledge.Keywords blackboard, graphic language, information design, education MethodsThe field study had ethnographic bases and the method used was the non-participant observation. The researchers took part in the ordinary actions of five schools without interfering in its context. The activities were registered with a research diary, photos and videos of the moments when the blackboard was being used, in addition to photographs of the students' transcriptions.The grade selected was the primary school's third year (on which children are about 7 to 8 years), because the students can already read and they have at least one year of practice. Besides, this age group aligns with other researches of the research project Ensina Design.Then, five schools from Recife were visited, three of which were public institutions and two private. The first two visited schools have had two classes accompanied in each, totaling seven classes observed. As there was just one 'main' teacher for each classroom, the seven teachers, all female, had their work observed on these disciplines: Portuguese language, mathematics, science, history and geography. In public schools, the teachers were also responsible for the discipline of art, while in private schools, there was a specific teacher and a lab for it. Each group was accompanied by a week, approximately, totaling about 85 hours of observation.The raised data had to be translated in units that allow the analysis, so then 'ephemeral graphic messages' were defined as the information compositions that had an unified communication purpose. This had to be defined because several simultaneous graphic messages share the same chalkboard, as it was observed on a class that the blackboard had concurrently a list of activities to be held, the names of some students who would not have recess, and the responses for an exercise.