Juventudes negras na educação de jovens e adultos: trajetórias escolares de (re)existências

Abstract

The present study investigates the trajectories of young Black students in the Youth and Adult Education (YAE) program, seeking to explore their educational paths and their perceptions of how the school considers their youth and racial conditions. Grounded in the fields of YAE studies, youth studies, and research focused on ethnic-racial issues, the study aims to produce a sensitive and attentive listening to the voices of these young individuals, highlighting the intersections between their life circumstances and school experiences, often marked by exclusion, discrimination, but also by aspirations and opportunities to confront the inequalities shaping their lives, particularly those related to racism. Methodologically, the study employs focus group work and semi-structured interviews. The research locus is the primary reference center for YAE in the city of Juiz de Fora: the Geraldo Montinho Youth and Adult Education Center (CEM). At this school, the focus group is conducted with YAE students, and semi-structured interviews are carried out with three young participants who contribute the richness of their narratives regarding their educational journeys. In this process, issues such as the welcoming environment of the school, the experience of racism, and the connections between their interrupted educational paths and the broader dimensions of their lives emerge as crucial for addressing the challenge of developing curricula specific to this educational modality—one increasingly characterized by a significant presence of young Black students. The study advocates that it is only by considering what these young individuals reveal about their lives and school experiences that progress can be made in creating emancipatory curricula committed to diversity, equity, the overcoming of racism, justice, and the restoration of rights. This is especially critical because what young people have to say about themselves, the school, the lived curricula, their knowledge, struggles, dreams, projects, histories of rights violations, and unique modes of resistance must be regarded as foundational substance for policies of inclusion, retention, and education—particularly in the formulation of YAE-specific curricula.