“Mas lápis marrom pode ser cor de pele?” : experiências antirracistas de ensino de língua inglesa em séries iniciais de uma escola pública do município de Niterói/RJ

Abstract

This master's research assumes that the vast majority of stories that children have access to are those that praise hegemonic standards of beauty, using whitewashed examples. This fact contributes to shaping what these children think about the world and about themselves. That said, it is noteworthy that the present study addresses English language teaching in the first cycle of basic education at a municipal school in Niterói, in the State of Rio de Janeiro. From this perspective, the diversity presented in the class in question is problematized through literacy practices that can lead to a reflective and decolonial education in English language teaching. Thus, aiming at a dialogical, participatory and emancipatory proposal (HOOKS, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021), this research adopts Freire's critical pedagogy (FREIRE, 2000, 2003, 2013, 2014) to propose activities that can lead students to critically build knowledge about their presence and the spaces they occupy. In addition to Freirean thought, the concepts of Latin American decolonial thought (QUIJANO, 2000, 2005; MIGNOLO, 2003, 2007, 2017), the principles of multimodality (ROJO, 2012; KALANTZIS and COPE, 2012; KALANTZIS, COPE and PINHEIRO, 2020) as well as formulations on critical literacies (FREEBODY and LUKE, 1999) and ideological literacy (STREET, 2003, 2014) also appear as theoretical-methodological contributions that help in the construction of an approach to critical and anti-racist education. The results obtained during the research indicate that the activities carried out with the students constitute important tools for social transformation, considering that, by perceiving themselves as protagonists of important stories, thinking in a less colonized way, the children triggered changes in their own lives. conceptions and the community in which they circulate. At the end of this study, suggestions for antiracist activities are presented that could be used in foreign language classes. The proposed activities were structured in a pedagogical notebook and show that it is possible to move foreign language teaching from the place of neutrality it often occupies, giving students the possibility of beginning to question the status quo in a meaningful and enjoyable way.