O Storytelling Como Ferramenta de Pesquisa no Campo da Educação Física

Abstract

Introduction: Innovating in the production of new instruments for data collection is a challenge. In this context, storytelling gains strength by enabling students to reflect on their life trajectories. Objectives: To analyze the potential of storytelling as a research tool, probing whether its production in professional training in Physical Education enhances and deepens understanding of gender relations. Methods: This is an autobiographical and descriptive qualitative research. In the first phase, the sample consisted of 32 students enrolled in Physical Education - Bachelor's and Teaching courses, each of whom constructed a storytelling narrative recounting their gender experiences in Elementary School. In the second phase, students answered a questionnaire reflecting on the use of the instrument. The material produced was subjected to thematic analysis with the assistance of NVIVO software. Results: The construction of storytelling allowed academics to reflect on gender relations experienced in Physical Education classes, highlighting male privilege and the marginalization of girls in the educational process. It also showed that this tool has great potential in capturing memories due to using autobiographical narratives associated with images. Conclusions: In education, storytelling proves to be a powerful instrument, as it opens doors to the future by triggering reflections on the past, and these doors indicate paths to be followed by future teachers. In qualitative research, storytelling demonstrates that photographs and videos from the participant's archive add a visual and emotional dimension to the collected data, contributing to a deeper understanding, and capturing nuances, emotions, and contexts that could be lost with traditional research methods.