This thesis is a narrative study that examines significant life experiences of six living artists that were pivotal in their decision to pursue careers in the arts. Although the examples found in these conversations are not exhaustive—many factors play into the individuals sense of identity and agency—they serve to give voice to the multiplicity of the learning experience, underscoring that creative education occurs in the home, the community, and among social groups as frequently as it does in the classroom. Through direct, open-ended conversations with artists, research explores the setting of upbringing and education, the pivotal experiences—catalysts—that propelled these individuals into art careers, and impact of their experience on both creative practice and notions of art learning. Interviews encompass artists whose work is located in public spaces, natural landscapes, and urban environments as often as it appears in the traditional exhibition settings, whose work is both collaborative and socially constructed. They comprise Rick Lowe, artist and founder of Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas whose community-centered social sculpture expands on our cultural assumptions about the artist and Anne Wallace, a public artist whose early work as a human right activist and bi-cultural experiences translate into videos about the complexities of the United States/Mexico border. It includes Vincent Valdez, a self-described “hyper-realist” who depicts his home city and composite life experiences of his family through allegorical paintings and drawings; Marie Lorenz, an artist explorer whose interest in urban waterways brings her work into the waters of forgotten canals and rivers; of Robert Pruitt, who critiques ever-changing political landscapes, conceptions of history, and globalism through hybrid drawings and sculptures; and Franco Mondini-Ruiz who fuses aesthetics of high and low in installations and creative economy widely accessible to people both within and outside the confines of the art world. Through narrative conversation, this thesis enriches overlapping theories that encompass our understandings of education and learning—mentorship, experiential learning, the aesthetic experience, place-based learning, communities of practice—through lived example, underscoring learning as a socially constructed phenomenon. Experiences of learning, unique and wholly individualized, contribute to a one’s sense of self and agency; in the case of the six artists featured in this study, creative experiences contribute to their identity as “artist” and motivated their pursuit of lifework and career. / text

During the 2000s, the former UK Government introduced the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) in an attempt to increase the relevance of qualifications and the qualification level of the UK labour force (HMSO 2006). However views about the value of the QCF and qualifications generally are contested. Through longitudinal case study research, the thesis finds a vocational purpose for qualifications that supports a culture of continuous improvement. This results in models that contribute to thinking about vocational learning and the role of qualifications, and provide a conceptional bridge between paradigms of workplace learning and concepts of organisational excellence. The thesis explores common understanding of learning and skills to explain issues relating to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and the QCF. In particular the thesis identifies significant implementation problems for the QCF due to differing ontological and epistemological understanding of the meaning of skills and their measurement, and requirements for different delivery and assessment models. In addition, the study identifies that rapidly changing organisational arrangements and regulation hinder the establishment of a more diverse and inclusive QCF. The thesis concludes that the QCF best fits Hager’s (2002) concept of learning that encompasses learning of many different kinds. Also the QCF is valuable as a flexible framework that establishes a degree of order in complex, rapidly changing learning environments. However the qualifications require broadly specified assessment criteria, and links to external communities of practice and associated learning packages.

In the past 30 years there has been a rapid and exponential growth in the numbers of people electing to complete all or part of their studies outside of their country of origin. This phenomenon has attracted considerable research attention, not least from those who are interested to describe the benefits seen to accrue from the opportunity this provides for an extended encounter with linguistic and cultural diversity. Notably, the widespread assumption that this can generate a new form of learning, commonly referred to as intercultural learning, which is understood to comprise increased tolerance, empathy and openness to the linguistic and cultural other. Despite the limited research data to substantiate these claims, among those interested to develop educational responses to globalization, the potential of intercultural contact to generate intercultural learning has considerable appeal and has been co-opted in the development of policy and practice to promote global citizenship at all levels of education. This has contributed to the emergence of a particular discourse about intercultural learning and is further fuelling the development of both short and long-stay study abroad programmes. This discourse is, however, increasingly called into question on account of the perceived overly-simplistic constructions of interculturality and learning on which it is premised. In particular, there is a growing recognition of the need to develop situated accounts of people’s everyday encounters with linguistic and cultural others which acknowledge the exigencies of the setting, as well as the impact of wider political economic and historical discourses on their positioning in intercultural encounters. The generation of ‘thick’ descriptions of people’s lived experiences of interculturality in global educational contact zones, it is argued, can lead to a more nuanced account of the intercultural learning these can afford. This was the aim of the study reported in this thesis. The study undertaken explores the relationship between an experience of interculturality and learning among 14 international students during their year-long sojourn at a university in the UK. Drawing upon a socially constructed relational understanding of learning informed by the transactional and dialogic conceptualization of learning developed by Dewey and Bakhtin among others, the study sought to generate a narrative account of participants’ experiences and learning generated from periodic individual and group interviews over the year as well as reflective accounts in participants portfolios and other opportunistic conversations recorded in the researcher log. Primary analysis of the data revealed that participants’ experiences generated a number of forms of learning. One of these, ‘learning about self in relation to linguistic and cultural other’ was identified as a form of intercultural learning, comprising learning to be more open to the other and learning about linguistic and cultural positioning. This was subsequently explored in more depth, revealing a complex interplay between these two elements and the strategic actions taken by participants to manage their encounters with linguistic and cultural others. These results revealed considerable differences in the learning trajectories and outcomes resulting from their intercultural encounter. The findings also point to the importance of sustained commitment to intercultural dialogue on the part of individuals and the perception of their ethical treatment by others as important to the direction their learning trajectories take. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that while an encounter with linguistic and cultural other may lead to increased tolerance, empathy and openness to other associated with the way intercultural learning is employed in much of the research literature, the strategic actions learners take to negotiate their linguistic and cultural positioning will critically inform the extent to which they develop these qualities. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the ways in which a situated and relational conceptualization of interculturality and learning is seen to contribute to a more informed and deeper understanding of the sorts of intercultural learning that are made possible by an intercultural encounter. I also identify a number of research agendas which can build upon the insights provided by the study.

Sammanfattning Författare: Julia Castlin och Robin Andersson Titel: Arbetslöshet, vad gör det med oss? Handledare: Jan Karlsson Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur arbetssökande upplever att arbetslösheten påverkar deras hälsa. Studien hade även för avsikt att undersöka vilka utmaningar arbetssökande upplever och hur dessa hanteras i vardagen. Vidare studerades hur arbetssökande kan lära sig om sin hälsa under arbetslösheten utifrån egna samt andras erfarenheter. Metod: Denna studie grundas på sex stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer med arbetssökande som varade i 30-40 minuter. De arbetssökande som deltog i studien hade varit utan arbete i minst två månader och var inskrivna eller på väg att skriva in sig på Arbetsförmedlingen. Teori: Teorierna som behandlar såväl hälso- som pedagogiska teorier är: känsla avsammanhang (KASAM), erfarenhetsbaserat lärande och praktikgemenskaper. Samtliga tre teorier har utgjort kärnan i en analysmatris som i studien legat till grund för att finna samband mellan empirin och teorierna, vilket var en hjälp för att besvara studiens syfte. Resultat: Resultaten som framkom i denna studie pekade på att arbetssökandes hälsa påverkas av tilltron till den egna förmågan att uppnå sina individuella mål. Krav och förväntningar från omgivningen verkar också påverka individernas hälsa. Resurser i form av ekonomisk trygghet och socialt stöd tycks kunna bidra till ett bättre subjektivt välmående. Den största utmaningen upplevdes av många arbetssökande vara att få en anställning. Orsakerna till den upplevda svårigheten var dock varierande och individuella hinder såsom brist på resurser, brist på erfarenhet/utbildning och konkurrens på arbetsmarknaden pekades ut. I intervjuerna framkom även att flera av intervjupersonerna hade utvecklat nya “idéer/teorier” som kan underlätta en hantering av liknande situationer i framtiden. Dessa nya idéer kan ha uppkommit både genom egna erfarenheter eller genom utbyte med andra. Slutsats: Hälsan under arbetslösheten tycks vara beroende av individens förmåga att hantera situationen som i enlighet med teorierna om erfarenhetsbaserat lärande och SE, beror på individens tidigare upplevelser och tilltro till sin egen förmåga. Sannolikheten för att få en anställning verkar således öka om individen innehar ett högt KASAM. / Abstract Author: Julia Castlin and Robin Andersson Title: The impact of unemployment - About job seekers perceptions and experiences of unemployment and health Supervisor: Jan Karlsson The aim of this study was to examine how unemployed experience their everyday life and how their health is affected by being unemployed. Another purpose of this study was toexamine which challenges the unemployed are experiencing and how they are handled. Furthermore, this study aspired to see how unemployed can learn about its health during unemployment by experiences from themselves and others. Method: This study included six semi-structured interviews with unemployed, which lasted for 30-40 minutes each. The unemployed, participating in this study had been without work for at least two months and were registered on, or in the process of registration with Arbetsförmedlingen (Employment Service, the largest agency providing jobs in Sweden). Theory: The theories that are addressing both health and pedagogy are: sense of coherence (SOC), experiential learning and communities of practice. All of these three theories have formed the core of an analyzing table, which facilitates findings of correlation between empirical data and theory, in order to enable answers regarding the purpose of this study. Results: The results that emerged from this study indicated that the health of unemployed is affected by the self-efficacy of achieving their individual goals. Expectations from the social environment also seem to be a factor to the health of the unemployed. Resources in terms of financial security and social support also showed indications of contributing to a better subjective well-being. The majority of the unemployed in this study perceived that receiving employment was the greatest challenge. However, the causes of the perceived difficulties were varying and the obstacles were individual, such as lack of resources, lack of experience/education and competition on the labor market. The interviews also revealed that several of the participants had developed new “ideas/theories” that can facilitate the management of similar situations in the future. These new ideas may have emerged either through own experience or through exchange with other people. Conclusion: The health status during unemployment seems to be dependent of the individual’s manageability of the situation, as in accordance with the theories of experiential learning and self-efficacy, depends on the individual’s previous experience and self-efficacy.Thus the likelihood of receiving employment seems to increase if the individual has a strong SOC.

Cette étude qui s’inscrit dans la perspective de l’action située, vise à comprendre le phénomène de (re)construction des communautés de pratique (CoPs) en contexte de fusion hospitalière. La recherche repose sur un devis d’étude de cas longitudinale qui combine plusieurs sources de données : documentaires, d’entretiens semi-directifs et d’observations de terrain. La stratégie d’analyse combine deux méthodes : l’une processuelle, permettant un ordonnancement temporel de récits d’événements et d'activités qui ont contribué à situer l’action dans le temps; l’autre selon l’approche de la théorisation ancrée, a permis la comparaison des données par leur regroupement systématique en catégories et sous catégories, tout au long de la collecte des données. La démarche de recherche processuelle adoptée, nous a conduit à révéler la dynamique de construction d’une communauté de pratique (CoP) à partir des caractéristiques inter reliées, identifiées dans la littérature et qui font référence à un engagement mutuel, une entreprise commune et un répertoire partagé. Ainsi, nos analyses montrent que le domaine d’action qui vient délimiter les points de convergence des participants, constitue le dénominateur commun de la pratique de la communauté qui met à jour des savoirs tacites et explicites qui s’échangent et se développent dans le temps. Cette pratique partagée, éminemment sociale, génère des connaissances et des règles négociées et entretenues par les membres dans le cadre de leurs rencontres. Nos analyses révèlent également que le processus d’évolution d’une communauté de pratique, s’inscrit dans une trajectoire d’apprentissages continue où se combinent de façon dynamique, des temps de participation intense, propices à la construction progressive d’une compréhension commune et négociée du domaine d’action (participation) et des temps de mise en forme de ces représentations (réification). Ici, la dialectique participation/réification qui se donne à voir, révèle un véritable travail d’organisation où la construction du sens à donner à l’action s’instruit à l’aune d’une régulation sociale omniprésente. Toutefois, le résultat de la régulation sociale, n’implique pas de facto, la rencontre d’une régulation conjointe. Plutôt, nos résultats mettent à jour un ensemble de régulations, tantôt concurrentes, tantôt en équilibre en regard du contexte dans lequel sont placés les acteurs. Enfin, nos résultats sur la dynamique de (re)construction des communautés de pratique en contexte de fusion, permettent d’appréhender le changement organisationnel non plus sous ses seuls aspects stratégiques et en direction des équipes dirigeantes, mais également sous l’angle des capacités d’acteurs « ordinaires » à l’initier dans une perspective continue et située. / This study, which draws on the situated action approach, aims to understand the (re)construction of communities of practice (CoPs) in the context of a hospital merger. Combining documentary sources, semi-open ended interviews and observations data, the analysis strategy is twofold. A first method takes into account the merging process itself and the situation of action in time and place. A second method is guided by grounded theory as data are continuously categorized and compared throughout the data collection phase. Within this perspective, where the notion of process is a key figure, we have identified, in link with current literature, interrelated characteristics, such as mutual engagement, a joint enterprise, shared repertoire that intervene in the reconstruction of a community of practice (CoP). Our analysis points to the action domain as the common denominator of community practices, domain where tacit and explicit knowledge tend to converge in time. This shared practice, eminently social in nature, generates knowledge and negotiated rules that are upheld by its members within the framework of their meetings. This perspective has also brought forth how communities of practice take shape within processes of continuous learning that combine phases of intense participation that favor a shared understand of the action domain and the reification of their representations. In this specific study, the participation/reification dialectic reveals a “making sense” process where meaning of action and social regulation are intricately linked. Nevertheless, the resulting social regulation does not de facto, imply the encounter of a shared regulation. Rather, our results reveal an ensemble of regulations, sometimes concurrent, sometimes in equilibrium, in relation of the context within actors are situated. These findings on the dynamics of the reconstruction of communities of practice offer a new way of thinking changes within organizations such as the hospital, not only in respect to strategic dimensions and changes amongst team leaders but also in taking into account the lay actors and their capacities of thinking and acting out change.

Ce travail de recherche se situe dans le cadre de la théorie de l'activité et dans celui de l'apprentissage social. Il porte sur les pratiques des internautes qui investissent du temps et du travail dans la mise en oeuvre et l'amélioration de la plate-forme d'enseignement en ligne « Moodle ». Même si leur objectif principal n'est pas l'apprentissage en tant que tel, leur activité nécessite de créer, de diffuser et d'acquérir certains types de savoirs et ainsi de se développer professionnellement. Alors que des informations circulent au sein des communautés virtuelles sur Internet, l'enquête ethnographique proposée considère l'activité « Moodle » comme une activité sociale située génératrice d'apprentissages. Elle repose d'une part sur un questionnaire sur les pratiques des intéressés (les Moodleurs) et d'autre part, s'appuie sur l'analyse des traces écrites qu'ils produisent sur le Web social. Les résultats permettent de mieux cerner qui sont ces « Moodleurs » et quelles sont leurs activités. Ils montrent aussi que si des apprentissages sont en jeu, ils concernent avant tout des savoir-faire. Il apparaît également qu'un développement professionnel est repérable dans cette dynamique collective interactionnelle qui ne s'effectue pas dans un cadre institutionnel classique. / The research is based on the framework of Activity Theory and the Social Learning Theory. This thesis addresses the practices of the Internet users who invest work and time in the improvement and the design of "Moodle", the platform for online education.Even if their main objective is not developing their knowledge, their activity requires creating, diffusing and acquiring certain types of knowledge and consequently developing their professional skills. Since information circulates within the virtual communities on the Internet, the selected ethnographic method considers "Moodle" activity as a situated and social activity generating learning process. It is based on both a questionnaire on the practices of the involved people (the Moodlers) and an analysis of the written traces that they produce on the social Web. The outcomes, on the one hand, show how the "Moodlers" manage their activities to learn mainly in a know-how perspective. On the other hand, it appears that the professional development depends on a collective and an interactional dynamics which is not determined by the institutional framework.

This study explores what happens as the ideals of a learnership, envisioned in the South African legislation, become real practice in a workplace within the financial services industry. Learnerships are at the centre stage for illuminating the processes of acquiring a vocational qualification, which combines education with work readiness. The constructivist philosophy to this research and its qualitative paradigm resonates well with the postmodernist thinking that knowledge has different purposes strongly linked to performance, demanding education that is value adding. It is through this postmodern lens that the broad theoretical framework for study is located. It encompasses theories of learning and workplace learning, such as Wenger’s (1998) perspectives on communities of practice and Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning circle. Mezirow’s (1981) transformative learning theory adds the dimension of dialogue. The method of illuminative evaluation is used to examine one event in order to explore its contextual insights. Qualitative inquiry has a fundamental people orientation and, for this reason, observation adds depth to the information gathering possibilities of interviews and document analysis. This report is enriched by narratives of people’s perspectives on events. This illuminative evaluation brought out rich and varied insights into the acquisition of knowledge, skills and work identity (values and attitudes), with some surprising and unexpected insights on success and failures. The workplace’s control of the learning process, while impacting extremely positively on the quality of the theoretical learning (which is interesting as education is not its core purpose), compromised in some respects the success of the end product of the learnership, the work readiness and employment possibilities of learners.

[pt] Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo buscar entendimentos sobre a interação dentro do contexto profissional no qual estou inserida: a equipe de supervisoras acadêmicas de uma instituição de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira. À luz dos princípios da Prática Exploratória (Allwright, 2001), monitorei atividades nas quais nos engajamos nos bastidores de nossa prática diária, assumindo o papel de pesquisadora praticante inserida no contexto de pesquisa. Os dados foram gerados a partir de CIPEs - Conversas Informais com Potencial Exploratório (Azevedo, 2005), notas de campo e gravações em áudio de reuniões planejadas, conversas informais e da interação diária entre as supervisoras dentro dos cubículos do Departamento Acadêmico. A análise dos dados, com base em conceitos advindos da Sociolingüística Interacional, permitiu-me identificar no curso desses diferentes momentos de interação do grupo como se dão: construção de conhecimento e credibilidade profissional, tomadas de decisões e resoluções de problemas, e a construção da identidade do grupo. Ao promover o envolvimento do grupo nessa busca por entendimentos, este estudo acrescentou uma nova dimensão ao nosso fazer supervisão no dia-a-dia: um olhar exploratório sobre nossas experiências de participação e não-participação em diferentes comunidades de prática (Wenger,1998) dentro da instituição. / [en] This study aims at searching for understandings of the interaction in the professional context I belong to: the team of academic supervisors in an EFL school. Following the principles of Exploratory Practice (Allwright, 2001), I monitored activities in which we engaged in the backstage of our daily practice, adopting the role of a practitioner researcher. Data was generated through potentially exploitable informal conversations (Azevedo, 2005), field notes, and audio recordings of scheduled meetings, informal meetings and the daily interaction inside the supervisors´ room. Data analysis, based on concepts of Interactional Sociolinguistics, allowed me to identify, in the supervisors´ discourse, how we construct professional knowledge and credibility, make decisions and resolve problems and construct our group identity. By involving the group in this search for understanding, this study has added a new dimension to our daily practice in supervision: an exploratory look at our experiences of participation and non-participation in different communities of practice (Wenger,1998) inside the school.

Os museus, independentemente de sua tipologia e contexto de origem, mantêm em comum seu caráter de conservação e preservação do patrimônio cultural, bem como sua disponibilidade em ressignificá-lo. Embora historicamente o papel social dessas instituições tenha se alternado em força e motivos, uma dimensão torna-se evidente: os museus, nos modelos conhecidos hoje, apresentam-se como espaços educativos, organizados, com conhecimento humano historicamente construído, compartilhado e reproduzido por sujeitos ativos. Mas como os museus conduzem desse processo, considerando seu público como composto por sujeitos que atribuem valores e significados a esse patrimônio? Buscando uma reflexão sobre o entendimento do papel social dos museus no que tange à apropriação e re-produção da cultura, foi utilizado o referencial histórico-cultural, baseado nas ideias de Vigotski, Leontiev e Davidov e focado o processo de aprendizagem de conceitos e práticas. Com essa escolha, procurou-se compreender como está estruturada uma atividade de aprendizagem, de ressignificação do patrimônio, em museus de ciências. Assumiu-se, a priori, que essas instituições são locais em que o processo de aprendizagem está presente, mas não necessariamente a atividade de aprendizagem. Diferenciou-se, portanto, aprendizagem de atividade de aprendizagem, considerando-se que, a última, deveria ser investigada. Foi escolhida uma instituição para análise, o Museu Biológico do Instituto Butantan, e procurou-se compreender o atual uso de sua exposição de longa duração, por meio de uma perspectiva histórica. Para isso, foram analisados documentos oficiais e acervos institucionais e pessoais relacionados às práticas de educação em ciências e divulgação científica realizadas pelo Instituto Butantan desde sua criação, em 1901. Os macrociclos de atividade de aprendizagem expansiva encontrados permitiram compreender a atual exposição não somente como produto dos anseios e pressupostos da equipe de profissionais envolvidos, mas como fruto de atividades desenvolvidas por todo um século, que influenciam atualmente as interações estabelecidas entre público e instituição. Em um nível maior de escala, foi realizada a análise de ciclos e microciclos de aprendizagem por meio do olhar de visitantes e monitores. Para isso, foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas, registradas em áudio e vídeo, com mediadores do museu e famílias de visitantes. Os referenciais utilizados nessa investigação, incluindo o conceito de comunidades de prática, ofereceram dicas importantes de organização da atividade educativa em museus de ciências, especialmente relacionadas ao posicionamento do objeto museal como artefato mediador. Elementos como o uso de modelos germinais e de situações-problema, a seleção de conceitos e práticas nucleares, a promoção da ascensão do abstrato ao concreto, o movimento entre ações e operações, a zona de desenvolvimento imediato como propulsora do desenvolvimento, a mediação semiótica e social apresentaram-se como elementos importantes para a práxis profissional dos educadores de museus. Com as relações estabelecidas entre a Teoria da Atividade e a Aprendizagem em Museus, espera-se que esta investigação tenha contribuído para o entendimento dos museus como estruturas mediadoras, facilitadoras das múltiplas possibilidades de interação entre o sujeito e a cultura. / The museums have in common the character of cultural heritage conservation and extroversion regardless of their kind and origin context. Although historically the social role of these institutions have been changing in power and reasons, a dimension becomes clear: the museums, the model known today, are educational spaces, organized with human knowledge historically constructed, shared and re-produced by active subjects. How do the museums lead this process, considering their audience as composed of individuals that give values and meanings to this heritage? Intending a discussion on understanding the social role of museums in terms of appropriation and re-production of culture, we used the historical-cultural approach, based on the ideas of Vygotsky, Leontiev and Davydov and we focused on the process of learning concepts and practices. With this choice, we aimed to understand how the learning activity is structured in science museums. We have assumed a priori that these institutions are places where the learning process is present but not necessarily the activity of learning. We distinguished, therefore, \"learning\" from \"learning activity\", considering that the latter should be investigated. An institution was chosen for analysis, the Biological Museum of Butantan Institute, and we tried to understand its long-term exhibition through a historical perspective. For this, we analyzed documents and institutional and personal collections related to science education and science communiation practices held by the Butantan Institute since its creation (1901). The macrocycles of expansive learning founded helped us to understand the current exhibition not only as a product of the anxieties and assumptions of the team of professionals involved, but as a result of activities developed in a whole century, which currently affect the interactions between audience and institution. On a higher level of scale, the analysis of cycles and microcycles of learning activity was developed by the point of view of visitors and monitors. For that, semi-structured interviews with museum explainers and visitor families were recorded on audio and video. The theoretical approaches used in this research, including the concept of \"communities of practice\", offered important tips for organizing the educational activities in science museums, especially related to the positioning of the museum object as mediator artifact. Elements such as the use of germ-cell models and inquiry situations, the selection of nuclear concepts and practices, the promoting of the ascending from abstract to concrete, the movement between actions and operations, the use of the proximal development zone, the social and semiotic mediation, were described as important for the professional praxis of museum educators. With the relationship between activity theory and learning in museums, it is expected that this research may contribute to the understanding of museums as \"mediators\" structures which facilitate the many possibilities of interaction between the individuals and culture.

Com base no conceito de identidades de participação em comunidades de prática (LAVE e WENGER, 1991; WENGER, 1998) e dos pressupostos teóricometodológicos da terceira onda nos estudos de variação, foi realizada nesta tese uma análise que conjugou métodos quantitativos e qualitativos de pesquisa para compreender como o uso variável da concordância nominal de número se relaciona com as identidades locais de Jovens e Adultos no Centro do Trabalhador em Porto Alegre. A pesquisa relatada nesta tese teve como objetivo aprofundar em dois sentidos os resultados encontrados na pesquisa de mestrado apresentada em Mangabeira (2012). Nesse trabalho, as categorias sociais de Jovens e Adultos (baseadas, mas não determinadas pela idade dos participantes) emergiram como modos de afiliação a comunidades de prática locais no Centro do Trabalhador (escola municipal de Educação de Jovens e Adultos em Porto Alegre - RS), por meio da análise de dados de cunho etnográfico; além disso, as frequências brutas de aplicação da concordância nominal na fala dos participantes apontaram para uma possível correlação dessas categorias locais com a concordância como recurso simbólico, e com identidades de gênero. Partindo dessas categorias (tomadas aqui como comunidades de práticas escolares), esta pesquisa analisou entrevistas com 16 participantes, para compreender melhor como os participantes da pesquisa constituem suas identidades discursivas (BAMBERG, DE FINA e SCHIFFRIN, 2011) em narrativas ocasionadas por entrevistas sociolinguísticas, especialmente em relação a suas identidades de gênero, associadas às categorias locais de Jovens e Adultos. Além disso, foi feita uma análise multivariada (atomística e não-atomística) da fala desses participantes, utilizando-se os softwares GOLDVARB e RBRUL, com vistas a estabelecer correlações estatísticas entre os resultados qualitativos da pesquisa e o uso variável da concordância nominal, bem como compreender melhor os contextos linguísticos que favorecem ou desfavorecem a aplicação da marca de plural. O resultado da análise qualitativa do conteúdo das narrativas mostrou que as identidades de gênero dos participantes são relevantes para a construção de suas identidades de Jovens e Adultos. Esse resultado também se confirmou do ponto de vista linguístico, uma vez que o uso variável da concordância nominal correlaciona-se estatisticamente, neste lugar, com essas categorias e com categorias de gênero: a aplicação da marca de plural é favorecida por mulheres e Adultos no Centro do Trabalhador. Os resultados mostraram também que, em relação aos contextos linguísticos, a aplicação da marca é favorecida pela saliência fônica, pela presença de marcas precedentes e pelas posições pré-nucleares do sintagma nominal, como apontaram estudos anteriores sobre essa variável no português brasileiro, como Scherre (1988). Por fim, a análise global dos resultados mostrou que o uso variável da concordância nominal é uma prática social (ECKERT, 2000a) no Centro do Trabalhador. / Based on the concept of participation identities in communities of practice (LAVE and WENGER, 1991; WENGER, 1998) and the theoretical and methodological postulates of the third wave in variation studies, an analysis was undertaken on this thesis, which conjugated quantitative and qualitative methods of research to understand how the variable use of number nominal agreement in the noun phrase correlates to the local identities of young and adults at Centro do Trabalhador in Porto Alegre. The research reported on this thesis aimed at deepening the results found on the master's research presented in Mangabeira (2012) in two directions. In this work, the social categories of young and adults (based on, but not determined by the age of the participants) have emerged as modes of affiliation to local communities of practice at Centro do Trabalhador (public school for young and adults, in Porto Alegre – RS), through ethnographic data analysis; furthermore, the high frequencies of application of nominal agreement in the participants' speech have pointed to a possible correlation of those local categories with nominal agreement as a symbolic resource, and to gender identities. Grounded on those categories (considered here as school communities of practice), this research has analyzed interviews with 16 participants, to better understand how the research participants constitute their discursive identities (BAMBERG, DE FINA and SCHIFFRIN, 2011) in narratives occasioned by sociolinguistic interviews, especially in relation to their gender identities, related to the local categories of young and adults. Besides, a multivariate analysis (atomistic and non-atomistic) of these participants’ speech has been performed, using the software GOLDVARB and RBRUL, in order to establish statistical correlations between the qualitative results of the research and the variable use of nominal agreement, as well as to better understand the linguistic contexts that favor or disfavor the application of the plural mark. The outcome of the quantitative analysis of the narratives has evidenced that the participants’ gender identities are relevant for the construction of their identities as young and adults. That result has also been confirmed from a linguistic point of view, once the variable use of nominal agreement correlates statistically, at Centro do Trabalhador, with those categories and gender categories: the application of the plural mark is favored by women and adults at Centro do Trabalhador. The results have also shown that, regarding the linguistic contexts, the application of the plural mark is favored by phonic salience, by the presence of precedent marks and by the prenuclear positions of the noun phrase, as previous studies had pointed out about this variable in Brazilian Portuguese, like Scherre (1988). The global analysis has also shown that the variable use of nominal agreement is a social practice (ECKERT, 2000a) at Centro do Trabalhador.