Desafios e perspectivas do ensino religioso : uma análise da prática docente nas escolas da Rede Estadual e Municipal de Guarabira - PB

Abstract

Challenges and Perspectives of Religious Education: An Analysis of Teaching Practices in State and Municipal Schools in Guarabira (PB). This study addresses the challenges and perspectives of Religious Education (RE) by analyzing teaching practices in state and municipal schools in Guarabira, Paraíba. The research focuses on the praxis of RE instruction, acknowledging that reflecting on teachers’ practices is both a challenging and indispensable task. Recognizing that the (re)construction of pedagogical practices unfolds through a dialectical movement of planning, execution, and evaluation in teaching-learning scenarios and incorporating perspectives of decoloniality, religious pluralism, and anti-racist education the research aims to analyze the challenges and perspectives related to RE teaching in Guarabira's state and municipal networks. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach, which enables a thorough understanding and description of phenomena based on the perceptions of the interviewed educators. Through a phenomenological perspective, the study explores the lived experiences and meanings attributed by the participants. Field research was conducted using semi-structured interviews, the audio recordings of which were transcribed to ensure the veracity and depth of the collected responses. The data were then analyzed by categorizing the most relevant issues related to the research object. The first chapter grounds the study in the works of scholars such as Aragão (2020), Benvenutti (2024), and Junqueira (2015), among others, who support a pluralistic, decolonial, and anti-racist approach to. The second chapter examines RE within the school setting, traversing its implementation across Brazil, the state of Paraíba, and Guarabira specifically, through an analysis of the curricular proposals, state and municipal education plans, and pedagogical guidelines. In the third chapter, titled “At the Frontier of Challenges and in the Hope of Prospects for Religious Education in Guarabira – PB,” the results of the semi-structured interviews and the subsequent data analysis are presented. Preliminary findings indicate that teaching practices in Religious Education play a pivotal role in fostering social transformation. This is particularly evident when such practices are aligned with an anti-racist perspective, value religious pluralism, and adhere to decolonial approaches. Consequently, Religious Education transcends the mere transmission of knowledge, positioning itself as a powerful tool to question exclusionary social structures and to contribute to the construction of a more just, equitable, and inclusive society.