Remote learning and the challenges of alternating pedagogy: the case of PRONERA/EJA/RJ during the pandemic

Abstract

Rural communities have historically been excluded from access to formal education. Educational inequality in Brazil affects different groups, and by the end of the 20th century, movements advocating for the right to education for all emerged, such as rural and adult education. This struggle led to the creation of the National Program for Education in Agrarian Reform. In 2019, a project was established in the North and Northwest Fluminense regions with the aim of enhancing the educational level of young adults in Agrarian Reform settlements and rural communities during the initial years of Elementary School, through the pedagogy of alternation. This approach involves alternating between school time and community time, and interaction with the local environment is crucial to the teaching-learning process. However, in 2020, social distancing measures were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing in-person gatherings of project participants, including both learners and educators. With this in mind, the current work aims to analyze the restructuring of the alternating education process of PRONERA/EJA in the North and Northwest Fluminense region in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, a combination of bibliographic research and fieldwork employing observation techniques was utilized.