Dimensions of student engagement for the Brazilian context: the political emergence of participation for pedagogical innovation in Higher Education

In this essay, we present perspectives for the incorporation of the concept of student engagement in the theoretical repertoire of higher education studies in Brazil. Discussing the roots of the term, we propose it to be translated as "engajamento estudantil", in reference to the tradition of Latin American studies on university students and their political movements. We review the North American and European literature on student engagement, as well as Latin American seminal works dealing with the "engaged student" since the Reform of Cordoba. We present the ideas of participation and pedagogical innovation as possible pathways for conceptual and practical development of the concept of student engagement. We explore the relationships between these notions and Brazilian reality. We emphasize the political education for citizen participation as a fundamental component of student engagement, considering that the constitution of the student as a political subject is decisive for the future of higher education.