A Educação Estatística no empoderamento e reconhecimento da identidade racial de quatro estudantes dos Anos Finais do Ensino Fundamental de Uberlândia – MG

Abstract

From an early age, black individuals are led to reflect on their racial condition due to multiple historical issues that produce economic, social, and structural inequalities. These inequalities are sustained by the racial classification of humanity and by colonizing hierarchies among ethnic groups. Thinking about education in this context implies studying and discussing racial identity and affirmative policies from the early years, since, although schools may reproduce inequalities, they can also occupy a strategic role in overcoming them. This dissertation presents a segment of a research project aimed at examining how Statistical Education can be articulated with the study of power relations, such as race, gender, class, and nationality, based on materials published on social media. In this segment, we investigated how pedagogical proposals involving Statistical Education, combined with the development of critical thinking, could lead students in the final years of elementary school to recognize their racial identity, structural (dis)advantages, and whiteness, thereby empowering them. The participants were four students from public schools in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, who were scholarship holders in a Basic Education Scientific Initiation program. The investigation presented in this dissertation results from participatory research. Data analysis was conducted from an interpretative perspective, based on field notes, photographs, students’ written productions, and audio recordings of the interactions carried out throughout the proposal. The description and analysis of the material were organized into four categories, called episodes, which emerged from the investigative process: Episode 1 – Racial identity; Episode 2 – Structural (dis)advantages and whiteness; Episode 3 – Pathways to empowerment; and Episode 4 – The first Black Barbie and the construction of representativeness. The study showed that the articulation between Statistical Education and ethnic-racial relations fosters the development of critical thinking, enabling students to analyze data while reflecting on identity, inequalities, and representativeness. Furthermore, the results indicate the potential for pedagogical practices that integrate statistical content with sociopolitical issues, contributing to critical education and to bridging the gap between curriculum and social reality.