Baobá de Erer: o curso de Pedagogia da UNILAB - Campus dos Malês na construção da identidade docente antirracista de egressos e egressas

Abstract

This research investigates how the initial training in the Pedagogy Course at UNILAB - Campus dos Malês (BA) has contributed to the construction of anti-racist teacher identities. The analysis considers the sociocultural and historical contexts that permeate the educational and professional trajectories of the participants. From a theoretical standpoint, the study is grounded in cultural studies and identity theories, based on Hall (1997, 2019), Silva (2014), Dubar (2005, 2009), Pimenta (1996), Farias et al. (2009), Gomes (2005) and Munanga (2020) to discuss the construction of teaching and racial identities; in the decolonial perspective, based on Quijano (2005, 2009), Walsh, Oliveira, and Candau (2018) and Arroyo (2014), to problematize the production of knowledge; and in the anti-racist education perspective, which underpins the discussion on teacher training aimed at combating racism, with emphasis on Gomes (2012, 2017), Silva (2007, 2016), Cavalleiro (2024) and Santos (2024). With a qualitative approach, the study was developed in two stages: analysis of the Course Pedagogical Project (CPP) of UNILAB - Campus dos Malês (2019) and conducting comprehensive interviews with four graduates of the course – two teachers and one school manager working in basic education and one graduate student. The results show that the course curriculum is directly aligned with the National Curricular Guidelines for Ethnic-Racial Relations Education (DCNs-ERER), being primarily structured to train teachers in the field of ERER to work directly in the classroom. However, the narratives of the collaborators reveal that the course also enhances the training of managers and researchers in the field. Moreover, they demonstrate that what is outlined in the CPP corresponds concretely with the practices developed in the course. The course has offered teachers throughout their training a continuous repertoire on ethnic-racial relations, articulating the process of teacher professionalization with the reconstruction of identities, especially ethnic-racial identity. This articulation is realized in mandatory components focused on African history and culture, addressed both in theoretical discussions and in practical experiences encountered throughout the training, in distinct formative spaces.