A "SEMANA DA ÁFRICA" NA ESCOLA MUNICIPAL PROFESSORA MARIA BERNADETE BARBOSA, CEARÁ-MIRIM/RN.

Abstract

This pedagogical experience report describes and analyzes the "Africa Week" project, implemented at the Professora Maria Bernadete Barbosa Municipal School in Ceará-Mirim, Rio Grande do Norte. The initiative, conducted with 9th-grade classes, sought to recognize and value African ancestry and culture, as well as their historical and social influence on the community. The project was based on the premise that education should go beyond the classroom, connecting the curriculum to the reality and identity of students, using the context of Ceará-Mirim, a municipality with a strong history of slavery and sugarcane production, as a starting point. The methodology was dialogical and multisensory, involving various activities such as discussion circles, lectures, a capoeira performance, film and documentary screenings, and the production of affective maps. The proposal aimed to uncover the history of slavery in the Ceará-Mirim Valley and show how the past continues to influence the social and spatial configuration of the region. The activities connected the global struggle for freedom with local realities, using works such as the film "Harriet" and documentaries about slavery in the municipality itself. The culmination of the project allowed students to express their impressions and, through affective maps, materialize their perceptions of the presence of African culture in their lives and in the daily life of the community. The experience demonstrated that education can be an instrument of social and personal transformation, celebrating diversity and building an anti-racist identity.