Postado em: 5 November, 2025
The Importance of Antiracist Education in Primary Education
Pedagogic practice in the first years of schooling is the essential pathway for social transformation
Antiracist education in primary education is crucial in building a more just and equitable society, making it so that racial inequalities are combated from the very onset of life. According to the report “Early Childhood Education Project at the Center”, developed by Geledés – Institute for Black Women, a member organization of the SETA Project (Education System for Antiracist Transformation) alliance in partnership with other institutions, black children are impacted by structural inequalities as soon as they start primary education, facing discrimination in education and social spaces.
The study suggests that the invisibility of these issues and the lack of representivity in both the activities and pedagogic material reinforce stereotypes and perpetuate the exclusion of black children in the schooling environment. “This also occurs when the school curriculum does not seek the inclusion of a responsive and critical racial discussion, therefore allowing the building of knowledge with exclusively white and hegemonic references to take precedence. In this regard, schools are socially racist spaces. Therefore, unfortunately, it is also a locus where racism will be experienced very deeply daily”, Luciana Ribeiro, specialist in Education from the SETA projects, comments.
The role of schools and guardians in the struggle against racism
For the specialist, racial and gender inequality in Brazil is expressed violently in all corners of the country, and children witness these aggressions. With this, it is necessary to work out daily activities that represent the black and indigenous population positively.
With the aim of reverting this scenario, one of the pathways is to enforce the laws 10.639.03 and 11.645/08, which make it obligatory to teach Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture, respectively, in the school curriculum. “Antiracist education is the only way for us to deconstruct these frameworks and the impact of racial inequalities, especially in the education trajectory of black and indigenous youth, teenagers, and children. It means having the opportunity to teach the authentic history of Brazilian civilization in the educational curriculum and pedagogic practices in schools by means of a critical and intercultural discussion that places the black and indigenous population as protagonists within the story. This does not mean that we should disregard the hegemonic history; however, we should present it in an unbiased manner, taking on the responsibility of creating awareness that there is not only one history to be told nor only one manner to produce knowledge”, the specialist accentuates.
About the SETA Project
The SETA Project is an alliance between social movements and black organizations, residents of quilombos, indigenous peoples, and feminists who work in the field of education. The initiative is made up of ActionAid, Ação Educativa (Education Action), National Campaign for the Right to Education, CONAQ, Geledés, Makira-E’ta, and UNEafro Brazil. They are the recognized and committed organizations working in the field of antiracist education. The work of the SETA Project consists of participatory work that involves producing research, political advocacy, training programs, and mobilization campaigns for racial equity in education. The project works by systemically promoting the voice, mobilization, and leadership of represented groups. SETA’s collective vision is for a Brazilian system of public education built on the founding principles of social and racial justice and that ensures the right to contextualized and high-quality education for everyone.
