In Brazil there are many designations for learning cycles, such as: schooling cycles, regime of continued progression, initial literacy program and primary school cycle (Mainardes, 2009). These learning cycles are seen as an inclusive proposal that takes into consideration the students’ level and avoids dropping out of school of children and youth who are not at grade level. The present article is based on relevant theoretical background since it emphasizes the importance of communication between social groups. According to Moscovici it also enables a better accommodation to the reality it aims at understanding. The main objective of this article was to identify and compare social representations on ‘learning cycles’ of 168 teachers from municipal schools in the cities of Niterói and Rio de Janeiro. The analysis of these social representations indicated that teachers from both cities not only expressed negative representations but also opposing opinions regarding learning division in cycles.
social representation; education; apprenticeship
