Abstract

This article focuses on the construction of subjective and protagonist roles by young university students in higher education expansion and democratization context. This exploratory research project used the multiple case study technique at a private university in Brasília, Brazil, and had 163 students as participants. Founded on the sociology of experience and the dialogical pedagogy, this research focused on aspects of the social interaction among university students and professors, aiming to understand how subjectivity and protagonist roles develop at classroom. These results revealed that part of the students expected educational processes directed to develop values, attitudes and behaviors. Instead, these processes vary between cognitive and socio-emotional characteristics, more often to the former.

Keywords: higher education; youth; subjectivity; protagonist roles; dialogue