Interculturality and the indigenous theme in early childhood education

Abstract

In this study, we aim to problematize the pedagogical work with commemorative dates within institutions of Early Childhood Education. Among the commemorative dates, we took the ‘Indian Day’, given the relevance and frequency with which this date is worked in schools and in view of Law nº. 11.645, March 10 of 2008, which deals with the obligatory teaching of History and Culture of indigenous peoples. It is a theoretical study, based on authors of the modernity/coloniality group, among others, that help us think about the theme. First, we bring a reflection on the commemorative dates in the pedagogical work. In the sequence, we are dealing with ‘Indian day’, a subject that is still presented to children with stereotypes and prejudices. Subsequently, as a result of such problematizations, we emphasize the relevance of new directions in school work with children through critical interculturality and the creation of new alternatives of thought and society. As a conclusion, the work with the indigenous theme in education should be based on the equal consideration of the different forms of knowledge, of being and thinking the world. Considering that all subjects are knowledge builders, including children, mechanized and meaningless activities are meaningless.