Action as the Founding Principle of Education: Rethinking the Engineering Classroom in View of Arendt’s Conceptual Framework

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35819/tear.v14.n2.a7704

Abstract

This text is part of a qualitative research project with a phenomenological-hermeneutic focus on the processes of education and training in the field of engineering, approached from the perspective of action in Hannah Arendt’s thought. In light of contemporary challenges, marked by technological acceleration, global uncertainty, and increasing social complexity, it is argued that the education of engineers cannot be limited to technical mastery or the acquisition of instrumental skills. What is also required is a formative path that calls upon understanding, judgment, and responsibility toward the common world. The study contends that dialogical interaction in the classroom, arising from reflections motivated by the subject matter of the discipline but anchored in Arendt’s conceptual framework, particularly her views on politics, action, and plurality, leads to the conclusion that introducing action into the horizon of engineering education not only enriches the educational debate but also opens possibilities for rethinking the very meaning of educating in times of crisis and uncertainty.

Keywords: Action. Education in engineering. Formation. Hannah Arendt. Plurality.

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Author Biographies

  • Edgar Mendoza, Universidade de Sao Paulo

     Estudiante doutorado da Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP).

  • José Aquiles Baesso Grimoni , Escola Politécnica da USP - Departamento de Engenharia de Energia e Automação Elétricas

    Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica  e professor da  Universidade de São Paulo.

Published

2025-12-11

How to Cite

Action as the Founding Principle of Education: Rethinking the Engineering Classroom in View of Arendt’s Conceptual Framework. #Tear: Journal of Education, Science and Technology, Canoas, v. 14, n. 2, 2025. DOI: 10.35819/tear.v14.n2.a7704. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ifrs.edu.br/index.php/tear/article/view/7704. Acesso em: 4 jun. 2026.