Social repr esentations of afrodescendence

syllabus, pr actice, and teachers’ pedagogical discourse

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the social representations of afrodescendence in the processes of training male and female teachers at the School of Education Sciences at Antioquia University. The approach to this research work employed a scientific qualitative paradigm with a social critical, descriptive, explanatory approach from the perspective of theoretical methods based on data and critical discourse analysis. The following techniques were used: three focus groups with students and semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers (12) and department directors (5). The findings show that social representations regarding afrodescendence occur in two different orders, namely ascending and descending. The descending order conforms to hegemonic, racialized and racializing representations that obstruct the role of afrodescendence as a significant epistemological foundation in teacher training. These representations are expressed as an adjustment that provides continuity of homogenized knowledge, rampant equality, and indigenous multicultural avoidance. Ascending social representations adapt to the twists and turns and agencies that foster practices, relationships, and pedagogical discourses with afrodescending perspectives aiming at positioning decolonializing, intercultural pedagogies in an Afro ethno-educational coding scheme.