STRUCTURAL RACISM IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: CHALLENGES IN TEACHER TRAINING AND THE URGENCY OF RACIAL LITERACY

Abstract

This article sought to analyze the reproduction of structural racism in early childhood education, as well as the challenges faced by teacher training programs in implementing Law No. 10.639/2003. The methodology consisted of a qualitative study—a narrative and documentary literature review—conducted without empirical data collection, utilizing academic databases and search terms such as "structural racism" and "early childhood education." The data were subjected to thematic analysis, examining regulatory documents, accounts of daily pedagogical practices, and the influence of teaching materials in maintaining Eurocentric hegemony. The primary findings indicate that racism manifests within the school environment through the invisibility of Black identity markers, institutional silence in the face of discriminatory behavior, and the persistence of a curriculum that marginalizes Afro-Brazilian history and culture. Furthermore, the study found that significant deficiencies in both initial and continuing teacher education serve as the primary obstacle to implementing a decolonial praxis. The study concludes that overcoming this exclusionary landscape requires the urgent adoption of critical racial literacy as a foundational element of pedagogical practice. Only through rigorous teacher training—one that deconstructs uncritical whiteness and intentionally promotes ethnic-racial plurality—will it be possible to transform the school into a space of emancipation and both material and symbolic equity for all children.