African and Indigenous games and activities: a pilot study on their legitimacy and complexity in Brazilian physical education teaching

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the teaching of African-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture is mandatory in primary and secondary schools, there has been a lack of proper contextualizing in PETE programs [Corsino, L. N., & Conceição, W. L. (Eds.). (2016). Educação física escolar e relações étnico-raciais: Subsídios para a implementação das leis 10.639-03 e 11.645-08 [School physical education and ethnic-racial relations: Subsidies for the implementation of laws 10.639-03 and 11.645-08]. CRV, v. 11]. There is also a need to study how the recognition of African-Brazilian and Indigenous ethnic-racial issues in primary and secondary physical education is mandated by the law. The purpose of this research – framed as a pilot study – is to address the invisibility of African-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture in schools. The objective is to analyze both the teachers’ knowledge and the law application in physical education classes concerning African and Indigenous games and activities. We have addressed the invisibility of Black and Indigenous people in Brazil, connections to the African diasporas and Indigenous cultures, ethnic-racial inequalities in physical education, and the African-Brazilian and Indigenous complexities as challenges for PETE. The research method is qualitatively oriented and descriptive. Data was generated from an online questionnaire responded to by physical education teachers who work in primary schools. Findings suggest that there is a lack of discussion on ethnic-racial issues in PETE or in permanent teacher education programs. Despite the law, there is a discrepancy in its application in Brazilian education. Physical education opens space to reflect upon the African-Brazilian and Indigenous cultures in the schools. Even teachers who do not teach ethnic-racial issues at their schools affirm the importance to teach. In conclusion, it is necessary to decolonize the curriculum, emphasizing the ethnic-racial complexity in PETE. Transform pedagogies and prompt the construction of new paths for social justice practices do require a more culturally diverse physical education curriculum.