Praxe phenomena became a hot issue in Portuguese media: 10 students died between December 2013 and April 2014. These rituals should facilitate students’ inclusion in higher education communities and transitions between cultures, valuing diversity. They were based in social interactions (Vygotsky, 1934/1962), seen as a way to promote socialization and learning (Frias, 2003; Ribeiro, 2001). Nowadays they are a niche economy and issues regarding power, voice, or legitimate and peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) became important, needing further studies and analysis. Students’ social representations of higher education institutions and themselves as learners are dynamic (Marková, 2005; Moscovici, 2000), shaping their life trajectories of participation (César, 2013). Their dialogical self assumes different I-positions (Hermans, 2001), which contribute to their inclusion or create barriers. Social interactions between senior and new comers students should avoid disempowerment mechanisms.

1. 1
Praxe as Spaces and Times for Interactions among Peers:
Participation, voice and powe r issues
Valério, P., & Miranda, G.
Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação
pavalerio@gmail.com & gmiranda@ie.ulisboa.pt
Abstract
Praxe phenomena became a hot issue in Portuguese media: 10 students died between December 2013
and April 2014. These rituals should facilitate students’ inclusion in higher education communities and
transitions between cultures, valuing diversity. They were based in social interactions (Vygotsky,
1934/1962), seen as a way to promote socialization and learning (Frias, 2003; Ribeiro, 2001).
Nowadays they are a niche economy and issues regarding power, voice, or legitimate and peripheral
participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) became important, needing further studies and analysis.
Students’ social representations of higher education institutions and themselves as learners are
dynamic (Marková, 2005; Moscovici, 2000), shaping their life trajectories of participation (César,
2013). Their dialogical self assumes different I-positions (Hermans, 2001), which contribute to their
inclusion or create barriers. Social interactions between senior and new comers student s should avoid
disempowerment mechanisms.
The problem originating this study was the death of some higher education students due to praxe
rituals. The main goals of this work were: (1) to identify higher education students’ social
representations regarding praxe rituals; and (2) to study their participation in these rituals. We address
two research questions: (1) How do senior students use power during praxe rituals? (2) How do new
comers feel when they participate in these rituals? We assumed an interpretative approach (Denzin,
2002) and developed an exploratory intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995). The case we address is the
praxe rituals among higher education students in Portugal. The participants were 841 higher education
students (17/18 to 65-year-olds; 81% younger than 25), from all over Portugal, including the islands of
Madeira and Azores, opinion leaders from organised groups pro and against praxe, journalists and
decision makers from the educational and social communities. The data collecting instruments were
documents, two questionnaires (November/December 2013; May 2014), interviews (March-May
2014), and informal conversations. Data were treated through mixed methods: (1) quantitative
treatment, using descriptive statistics (Fergunson & Takane, 1989) regarding the socio-demographic
characterisation and the likert type answers; and (2) qualitative treatment, using a narrative content
analysis (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998), from which inductive categories emerged (Hamido & César,
2009).
The results illuminate that 44% of these students participated in all praxe activities, 31% in some, 15%
in a few and 10% did not participate at all. Their friends, parents and families are those who influenced
them the most regarding their participation. There are paradoxical answers: the majority (57%) does
not consider praxe as a power ritual, but 85% state these rituals build up a hierarchy. The way these
students conceive power relations, legitimate or peripheral participation, and voice issues is
controversial. In the interviews some recognise the importance of these rituals for their integration, that
they were funny and an opportunity to make friends. But others claim they came into tears, and that
these rituals are “a obscure way of elder students deal with their frustrations, using power to humiliate
others”. Thus, these are expanding interactive practices needing further studies to avoid their negative
effects: deaths and dropouts to avoid being humiliated.
Keywords: Praxe rituals, social interactions, participation, voice, power.

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