“Tia Bete” and other stories. A Pedagogy of Care through narratives1

Abstract

Despite movements that invest in narratives as a way of confronting the predominantly biomedical logic in health training/education, they are still timid and their pedagogical potential is underestimated. We investigated how narratives can contribute to a pedagogy that encompasses both technical knowledge and practical experiences, aiming to promote more humanized and dialogic interactions in health, shaped as Pedagogy of Care. Using narrative theory (Ricoeur), Critical Pedagogy (Freire) and the concept of Care (Ayres) and with diabetes education as a guiding thread, the study was based on the stories of twelve patients of a health service. The possibility of narrating, and not simply enumerating signs and symptoms, provided elements for opening up dialogue and cathartic effects resulting from the construction and sharing of stories. Looking at the plots and the ways in which they are woven together (scenes, settings, characters, values at stake), and not just isolated contents, meanings of the disease were recognized in relation to life contexts, limit situations and horizons of expectations. The stories presented themselves as powerful resources to promote syntheses between technical expectations of controlling the disease and concrete conditions of living with this chronic condition, highlighting the incorporation of metaphorical elements as a resource to deal with obstacles imposed by living with diabetes.