TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE and PRODUCTION of TEACHING MATERIALS for the STRENGTHENING of INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES in MATO GROSSO (BRAZIL

Abstract

Since 1996, Brazilian legislation establishes the existence of indigenous education as a specific modality in the national educational system. In indigenous villages, schools operate in different situations and are organized to provide children and young people with formal education. Indigenous teachers, trained by universities in specific courses, work in these schools. Indigenous communities are in different situations in relation to the use of the original language and Portuguese. This creates specific demands for each group or ethnicity. A collaborative research project developed by the UFMT/UNEMAT Network, with resources from the Federal Government, in the state of Mato Grosso established the objective of producing teaching materials for teaching the original language, which in some cases is in the process of extinction. The article presents results of the collaborative research developed with the Terena, Kayapó, Munduruku, Apiaká and Kayabi peoples, whose procedures included training processes and didactic actions in schools, collecting information to be used in the production of materials for the teaching of native languages. It concludes with analyzes on the importance of research for the social development of these communities and the preservation of their language, pointing out the challenges that the University faces in carrying out these projects.