The relevance of the discipline Religious Education for the deconstruction of racist and prejudiced practices in daily school life

This research aims to understand how the impression of an ecumenical and multiculturalist bias in Religious Education in public educational institutions can be an effective means for deconstructing racist and prejudiced practices in relation to historically marginalized religions in school life. Our general objective is to analyze how the discipline Religious Education is being taught at the Municipal Elementary School Goias, focusing on African religions, based on qualitative research, especially on the treatment given to African religions. The school is located in the district of Coractto, municipality of Macapa, a region that has a population mostly formed by black families with strong cultural and ethnic traditions. For data collection, we used semi-structured interviews with the school's faculty and students and with members of the Umbanda community. The obtained results pointed out that the Religious Education offered at EMEF Goias does not favor religions of African origin, that students know little about Afro-Brazilian religious practices and that teachers have difficulty of discussing the issue of religious intolerance. It is concluded that there is still a long way to go for the full implementation of Law 10.639/2003 and that there is still a need for greater training for teachers to be able to work with the theme, aiming at respect for cultural and religious diversity.