ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL NETWORKS: THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY ON LITERACY

It emphasizes that school performance issues of Basic Education students may be related to family literacy practices. The objective was to analyze personal networks of Primary School students to understand how the cultural capital of the family influences literacy and school success. The theoretical foundation exposed literacy with a focus on the family and the debate about school failure and cultural capital. The methodology uses the ethnographic approach based on direct observation and the analysis of personal networks, which studies the interpersonal communication existing in student networks and the actors that favor the educational process. The data is primary. The fifth grade students of Primary School of a public school in São Gonçalo do Amarante, a city located in the Metropolitan Region of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte - Brazil, underwent a questionnaire of relational nature, from which we collected the names of twenty people who composed the relational structure of networks. This data were organized into a matrix and processed Ucinet and NetDraw software, which enabled the calculation of two indicators, density and clicks, as well as the sociometric representation of the relational structure of each student. The results showed that the students' personal network system generates opportunities and restrictions on school performance. This varies according to the influences exerted by the network actors. The analysis of personal networks awakens new perspectives of studies and collaborates for critical reflections in the educacion. This research concludes that knowledge is more significant and school failure is overcome when the school approaches family literacy.