Da aldeia para a academia: o conhecimento científico entre os indígenas Potiguara da Paraíba

Abstract

Current research has emphasized the need to highlight the knowledge and practices of historically neglected groups and original communities, in a process of reversing the epistemicide that occurred with colonization. In this sense, the present work fits in the valorization of the knowledge of the Potiguara people, inhabitants of the North Region of the coast of Paraíba. Considering the existing legislation on Indigenous School Education, which presupposes the importance of combining local and global knowledge, the following research question was established: how to associate the knowledge of the Potiguara people with the curricular knowledge provided for Physics Teaching. Thus, the objectives were: to build a dialogue between Physics Teaching and the traditional knowledge of the Potiguara indigenous people of Paraíba; and, based on that, to elaborate a didactic material for the Indigenous School that would bring concepts of Physics contextualized with the culture and local knowledge. As the main theoretical reference for the elaboration of the material, we are guided by Paulo Freire's ideas, highlighting its political, critical and autonomy aspects. The research methodology was characterized as qualitative, of an ethnographic and bibliographic nature, consisting of interviews with the population of the villages and bibliographic research to determine the Potiguara narrative that served as a guide for the didactic material. As a result, we prepared a textbook chapter that addresses initial concepts of hydrostatics and optics, starting from a potiguara narrative about Pai do Mangue. The book chapter was evaluated by a teacher from a Potiguara Indigenous School, who highlighted the importance of contextualization made for the appreciation of the culture and knowledge of the Potiguara people. The research carried out allows us to conclude that considering community narratives is a possible way for Physics Teaching to value the knowledge, practices and other knowledge of these groups.