The participation of Black children in theses and dissertations (2016–2020) in the field of school education in Brazil: a narrative literature review.
Keywords: Black Children; Sociology of Childhood; Structural Racism; Ethno-Racial Relations;
The present study analyzes the perspectives, implications, and relationships established regarding the participation of Black children in the school setting, based on theses and dissertations produced in graduate programs in Brazil between 2016 and 2020. The research was guided by the following questions: What do studies say about the participation of Black children in the school space? Is there exclusion and invisibility of these children in research and in the school routine?A systematic literature review was exclusively conducted on the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) database. The theoretical and methodological choice for the categories "child" and "childhood" is grounded in the Sociology of Childhood and the concept of Infantilization (Infanc. These frameworks allowed the research to move beyond merely reporting the racism incident upon Black children, articulating new methodologies capable of viewing them as subjects and historical-cultural agents. The findings reveal that racism and whitening are structural forces within the school environment, often perpetuated by the silence of educators and concealed by the myth of racial democracy. We categorize this dominant approach as "denouncement research". Conversely, by centering the child's voice, studies demonstrate that, even at early ages in Early Childhood Education, Black children exhibit agency, the capacity to denounce, and ethno-racial consciousness, including through the lens of intersectionality (race and gender).