Body and movement in rural education: experiences of valuing african heritage in childhood

Abstract

The present study emerged from an experience developed at the State University of Southwest Bahia (UESB), involving children from Rural Education. The research aims to understand how experiences of body and movement lived by these children contribute to the appreciation of African heritage. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach, based on the observation of “situations, experiences, and event-based knowledge” (Macedo, 2016), carried out with children from a multigrade classroom.The experience proposed bodily practices through movements and games inspired by cultural expressions of African origin, fostering children’s expression through their own bodies. The results reveal that these experiences enabled a sensitive engagement with elements of African heritage, strengthening feelings of belonging and recognition of ancestral knowledge present in their cultural trajectories. The body in movement proved to be a living language, capable of expanding children’s forms of expression and meaning-making.It is concluded that pedagogical practices that value the body and movement constitute powerful pathways for the appreciation of African heritage in childhood, especially in the context of Rural Education, contributing to the development of educational practices committed to anti-racist education.