BETWEEN STAYING AND BELONGING: THE ROLE OF WELCOMING PRACTICES IN STUDENT RETENTION IN FULL-TIME SCHOOLS

Abstract

School dropout remains one of the main challenges of Brazilian education, revealing the need to understand not only the factors that distance students from school but also the elements that promote their permanence. Although public policies have expanded access to basic education, ensuring that children and young people remain in school, build positive bonds with the school environment and attribute meaning to their learning experiences remains an urgent demand. This article aims to discuss student retention in full-time schools, highlighting welcoming practices, the sense of belonging and the construction of meaningful relationships as essential strategies for addressing school dropout. This is a bibliographical study based on research about school dropout, integral education, school relationships and educational inequalities. The discussion is supported by authors such as Bourdieu, Charlot, Arroyo, Freire, Nóvoa, Vygotsky, Moll, Anísio Teixeira and Darcy Ribeiro, in addition to legal documents that guarantee the right to education. The analysis shows that school dropout is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon related to social, economic and family issues, as well as internal school dynamics. Therefore, overcoming this challenge requires moving beyond mere physical presence at school toward a qualified permanence characterized by recognition, listening, appreciation of individual trajectories and the creation of more democratic and inclusive educational spaces. It is concluded that full-time schools have significant potential to promote belonging and the integral development of students, provided that the expansion of school time is associated with welcoming pedagogical practices, appreciation of subjects and the construction of a school community committed to equity and human development.