Interseccionalidade na educação ambiental: trajetórias formativas e vozes de mulheres negras docentes

Abstract

The research was born out of discomfort with the invisibility of the experiences and knowledge of black women in the field of Environmental Education, which is marked by a lack of representation, historical erasure and a lack of recognition. The introduction to the research presents the political, historical and social context in which these women are inserted and analyzes how the social markers of race, class and gender have an intersectional impact on their trajectories as environmental educators. By highlighting these dimensions, we seek to contribute to the construction of other possible narratives that affirm the existence, resistance and intellectual production of black women in the field of Environmental Education. The general aim of the research is to understand the trajectories of black women teachers who work in the field of Environmental Education, considering the gender and ethnic relations that influence their stories and the effects on teacher formation. As specific objectives, the research proposes: (1) to identify black women linked to ANPED (GT-22) and the EPEA network working in Environmental Education in order to learn about their formative paths; (2) to analyze their life trajectories, emphasizing experiences, identities and subjectivities from the perspective of ethnic-racial and gender relations; and (3) to reveal how intersectionality manifests itself in the spaces occupied by these teachers, relating traditions, memories and resistance. The research has a qualitative approach, based on Oral History which uses the narrative of memories as a method. Strategies such as an online questionnaire and interviews with 11 black women teachers were used, and the organization of the accounts resulted in four axes: Memories of being a black woman; Memories of being a black woman in the midst of environmental injustices; Memories of being a black woman, teacher and researcher; and Memories of being a black woman, teacher, researcher and with multiple responsibilities. The results show that these trajectories are crossed by racism, poverty, academic loneliness, silencing and exclusion, but also by resistance, ancestry, support networks and affections. The participants reveal strategies for balancing personal life, teaching and research, while at the same time building forms of reexistence. Thus, this research reinforces the importance of listening to, legitimizing and making visible the voices of black women in Environmental Education as a form of social justice. It also indicates the urgency of deepening the presence of these narratives in debates and practices in the area, proposing as a way forward the expansion of intersectional investigations committed to plural and emancipatory epistemologies.