AKWẼ-XERENTE INDIGENOUS EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

from educational policies for indigenous childhood to the precarization of teaching work

Abstract

Indigenous early childhood education is established as a guaranteed right and also represents a collective choice; however, its implementation has occurred amid numerous challenges. This article aims to analyze data regarding the provision of indigenous early childhood education in the Akwẽ-Xerente Territory, in Tocantínia, state of Tocantins, based on the following central question: What is the diagnosis of Indigenous Early Childhood Education in the Akwẽ-Xerente Territory, considering the challenges faced in implementing this stage, the working conditions of teachers, and their influence on pedagogical practices? The theoretical-methodological framework is grounded in historical-critical pedagogy and the method of historical and dialectical materialism. The results indicate that all teachers working in Akwẽ-Xerente indigenous early childhood education belong to the community itself, a factor considered essential for this stage of child development. Although some have indigenous teacher training (technical secondary level), most do not hold a university degree and have temporary employment relationships with the municipality, which indicates the precarization of teaching work. This points to structural contradictions of the prevailing mode of production, as the material conditions of existence, such as access to training and job stability, are determined by social and historical relations of production, which, in the capitalist system, tend to perpetuate inequalities.