Between Avoidance and the Need to Learn: Emerging Dynamics in the First Weeks of Classes in Higher Education in Angola

Abstract

This article portrays an investigative study on the socio-pedagogical dynamics that emerge in a situation where higher education is influenced by curricula, structures and knowledge without cultural adaptation. It uses the perception of students and former students from the Angolan higher education, in the province of Benguela, and the Grounded Theory methodology. The results indicate that students feel that learning is not meaningful and, therefore, adopt subversive dynamics of absence and memorization, which negatively influence teaching and learning. Thus, there is a need to contextualize and decolonize teaching practices and to encourage the professional development of teachers in this regard.