Multimodal Collaborative Argumentation, Engaged Multiliteracies, and mental health in schools

reflections from the Brincadas Project

Abstract

In a context marked by humanitarian crises, social inequalities, and hate speech on digital media, children and young people suffer from oppression and social injustice. This article discusses how an action developed by the Projeto Brincadas helped high school students from a public school in São Paulo critically reflect on mental health issues. Grounded in Critical Collaborative Research (PCCol) and qualitative analysis, the study investigates how Multimodal Collaborative Argumentation can contribute to overcoming adolescents’ Ethical-Political Suffering. The data were produced during a meeting held in May 2024 at the school. In addition to Multimodal Collaborative Argumentation, the concept of Engaged Multiliteracies supported the analysis of audiovisual data stored in the Projeto Brincadas archive. The results indicate that collaborative argumentation fosters the process of overcoming pain caused by inequalities by integrating multiple semiotic resources and enabling the creation of new meanings through dialogue and the confrontation of different perspectives. The study concludes that practices based on Multimodal Collaborative Argumentation and Engaged Multiliteracies can assist in the development of more critical subjects committed to social transformation. The research highlights the relevance of dialogical practices that promote critical reflection and collective action.