The theme of this year’s National High School Exam (Enem) essay, “Challenges for valuing African heritage in Brazil”proposed by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), is “relevant”, “current”, “appropriate”, “interesting”, “necessary”, “urgent” and “pedagogical”.
The words are from teachers heard by the Brazil Agency in Brasília and São Paulo, who assess that the subject proposed in the Enem essay allows students to demonstrate their textual skills and reflect on the Brazilian reality.
Professor Analu Varga says that the essay’s theme proposes reflection on the functioning of society – Personal archive photo
Writing teacher at SEB, in Brasília, Analu Vargas assesses that the chosen theme “proposes reflection on the functioning of society”. “We are talking about a need to value the heritage of African culture. This opens up space to also address prejudice, racism, which is a crime, and deal with processes that we call post-slavery remnants.”
The coordinator and writing teacher at PB Colégio e Curso in São Paulo, Juliana Rettich, believes that Enem, with its writing themes, has a pedagogical nature for the entire Brazilian society; and that this year Inep got it right again by proposing a topic that could become an agenda for reports by different media outlets.
“We know that we have three cultural matrices in Brazil, but we still live under what we can call coloniality, a regime of power that continues to subordinate racialized people, such as African people. In our writing classes, we work from the perspective of decolonization and decoloniality, discussing the issue of Euro-centered curricula in schools and universities. In view of this, our first challenge is to combat epistemicide, the murder of knowledge, history and culture produced by African and Afro-diasporic peoples”, points out the teacher.
Structural racism
Writing coordinator and teacher at Colégio Passo, in São Paulo, Nayara de Barros, highlights that there are several topics to be explored in the Enem theme. “Students could address the racial debate that has been taking place in the field of education. The very concept of structural racism could be mentioned, in relation to racism as part of the social structure, a system that manifests itself in political, economic and legal relations, which will also present itself as a challenge to the valorization of this heritage in the most diverse instances. ”
Nayara’s co-worker at Stage, Luiz Carlos Dias added that the subject of the essay also concerns the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to him, SDG 18 “strives for ethnic-racial equality”.
“So, for African culture to be valued, we have to understand that African people have been historically marginalized in Brazil, since the slave market”, says the professor.
For Hagda Vasconcelos, a professor at Colégio Galois, in Brasília, the topic “didn’t surprise” because it is a “persistent problem” in Brazil. “Enem is a very democratic test. It is proof that calls into question what needs to be discussed.”
Hagda Vasconcelos, a teacher in Brasília, assesses that the topic of the essay was not surprising – Bruno Peres/Agência Brasil
In her assessment, Brazilian students are prepared. “We have to work on anti-racist education. Value the black character. Value the black scientist. I believe that the boys are well prepared, well grounded to produce this text”, says Hagda, considering the content taught in accordance with the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), which defines the guidelines and subjects that must be covered in all classes. Brazilian schools – whether public or private.
“I really liked the theme. It’s very appropriate. It is a topic that supports our discussions”, says Gilmar Félix, Portuguese language teacher at the Federal District Education Department and also at Colégio Marista de Brasília. The teacher remembers that there is a law since 2003 which establishes the mandatory teaching of African culture, in addition to indigenous culture, in Brazilian schools.
“We, who are part of the black movement and who are teachers, want this teaching to be legitimized. The topic will not just be about teaching African culture, but will also address the issue of anti-racist education”, he highlights.
Hierarchical view
The professor, however, points out that “society has difficulty dealing with the issue.” And the approach to subjects in the classroom can vary from school to school and even depending on the disposition of the teachers. “Some teachers don’t want to debate the topic. In our society there are still individuals who maintain a hierarchical view, thinking, for example, that the role and place of black people are always those they had during slavery”, he laments.
Professor Gilmar Félix says that the theme of the Enem essay helps to deconstruct hierarchical tendencies – Personal archive photo
For Gilmar Félix, the Enem writing, by making students look at African cultural heritages and the need for appreciation, “helps to deconstruct this hierarchical tendency.”
The teacher warns that, if a student has not developed the proposal, even if writing without errors in Portuguese and with arguments, they run the risk of being eliminated or receiving a low grade for having only “touched on the subject.”
“Competence 2 and competence 3 [exigidas pelo Inep] they will precisely demand that he works with legitimate repertoires. It is not possible for the student to come with guesswork. A good repertoire is that repertoire that is legitimized.”
Competency 2 requires the candidate to correctly interpret the theme and bring a comprehensive approach to all the keywords contained in the theme and make an appropriate choice of repertoires capable of contextualizing this interpretation contained in the theme. Competence 3 is an adequate formatting of a text project that foresees the construction of an introduction that presents the theme, the thesis and the arguments, which addresses the problematization in development and then the path to the intervention outcome.
