Da estória à história: uma avaliação da efetivação da Lei nº 10639/2003 em escolas públicas do Estado do Ceará

Abstract

Education, as a means of social advancement, has become, throughout Brazil's history, a matter of fundamental importance for populations with limited resources, especially considering that the vast majority of this population descends from African peoples who were enslaved for over two centuries. In the popular imagination, this perception is evident in common expressions passed from parents to children: “the only inheritance we can leave you is education.” The African peoples enslaved in Brazil were, however, left to fend for themselves in what is often referred to as the emancipation of the slaves. Following this, they faced—and continue to face to this day—systemic racism which, although at times blatant, is primarily manifested in subtle, covert ways. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of Law No. 10.639/2003, which addresses the teaching of Afro-Brazilian history and culture, its curricular application, and its ramifications within the public high school system in the state of Ceará. Within this scope, a literature review was conducted on the subject, along with an examination of the curriculum and academic calendars of the schools surveyed, their pedagogical proposals and instructional materials, and the inclusion of elements of Afro-Brazilian history and culture in their daily practices. From a methodological perspective, a qualitative, multi-, and interdisciplinary approach was chosen, based on the guiding axes of in-depth policy evaluation, defined as: analysis of policy content, analysis of policy formulation content, analysis of institutional trajectory, and analysis of temporal and territorial dimensions. Accordingly, field research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with school administrators, teachers, and students. Subsequently, the collected data were analyzed to understand the implementation of the law and its contribution to combating racism and promoting transformations in school culture. Among the findings, it is important to highlight the difficulty most respondents had in self-identifying their race, the complete lack of awareness among students regarding Law No. 10.639/2003, a significant number of teachers unaware of the training provided by the Department of Education, the presence of covert racist practices, among other issues.