SOUND WAVES, POPULAR PERCUSSION AND YOUTH AND ADULT EDUCATION: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERIENCE IN PHYSICS TEACHING

Abstract

This article reports and analyzes an interdisciplinary teaching experience carried out with ten adult students enrolled in the Youth and Adult Education program (EJA) at Colégio Estadual Jornalista Luiz Gonzaga Contart, in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. The pedagogical intervention articulated the teaching of sound waves, a Physics content area, with the practice of popular percussion and music education, aiming to make scientific knowledge meaningful for subjects historically excluded from conventional school practices. Grounded in Freirean pedagogy, the historical-critical perspective, and references on music education in formal and non-formal systems, the experience departed from the concrete reality of the students to collectively build the understanding of physical concepts such as frequency, amplitude, timbre, and sound propagation. As a final product, the students composed and performed a musical presentation, singing and playing percussion with alternative instruments, whose lyrics were elaborated from the very sound wave concepts studied. The results indicate significant and expanded learning compared to traditional approaches, as well as greater engagement, self-esteem, and sense of belonging among participants. The study concludes that the articulation between music, body, popular culture, and science constitutes a powerful pedagogical strategy for EJA, capable of overcoming the compensatory logic and affirming education as a practice of freedom and social transformation.