Banca de DEFESA: ANNE CRISTINA OLIVEIRA NUNES

Ethnic-racial Relations in School Physical Education: Teaching Possibilities.

Keywords: School Physical Education; Ethnic-racial Education; Afro-Brazilian Civilizational Values; Adinkra; Anti-racist Education.

The main objective of this study is to propose a socio-pedagogical intervention for Physical Education in schools, relating Afro-Brazilian Civilizational Values (ACV), Adinkra symbols, and Education for Ethnic-Racial Relations. This is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, in the form of action research. The participants were sixth-grade students from a public school located in the municipality of Paraíba do Sul, in the Vale do Café region of Rio de Janeiro. Two questionnaires were used, one sociodemographic and the other with questions related to the proposed intervention, in addition to a field diary, used to record each moment from the perspective of the teacher-researcher. The qualitative data analysis was carried out using Bardin's (2011) content analysis method, organized into three stages: pre-analysis; exploration of the material; and treatment, inference, and interpretation. Thirty-five students aged 11 to 14 years were analyzed, the majority (82.9%) self-identifying as Black (Black and mixed-race). Through the report of the teacher-researcher in the field diary, along with the answers to Questionnaire 2, it was possible to perceive that the socio-pedagogical intervention enabled the development of a sense of Identity and Belonging in the students by associating Adinkra Symbols and Afro-Brazilian Civilizational Values in Body Practices. The data analysis shows us that Memory, Corporeality, and Axé - Vital Energy were the most prominent VCABs, as well as the Adinkra SANKOFA. When asked about the Body Practices with which they most identified, the students answered Capoeira, the construction of the Abayomi Doll, and the construction of the Baobab Tree. It was also possible to verify, through the responses, a paradigm shift on the part of the students, who reported deconstructing preconceptions related to the experiences in which they participated. We believe that the proposed socio-pedagogical intervention constituted a possibility for teaching Ethnic-Racial Relations in Physical Education at school, leading students to understand their social role, based on Adinkra symbols and relating them to Afro-Brazilian Civilizational Values along with Body Practices.