Pedagogia crítica em ação: uma experiência de intervenção no ensino de língua inglesa

Abstract

Aiming to discover the effects caused by the application of Freire‘s pedagogical principles in the English language (EL) classroom, this action research was developed in three different school realities in the municipality of Itapetinga/BA: a federal public school, a state public school and a private municipal one. Inserted in the area of Applied, this research is anchored in the concept of language as a social practice (MENDES, 2010), intends to be part of Southern Epistemologies (SOUSA SANTOS, 2016) and relates the Paulo Freire‘s Critical Pedagogy (1967, 1987, 1996) to English Language Teaching. With a qualitative interpretive methodological approach, the present investigation was developed over eight months in collaboration with an EL teacher and a 3rd year high school class from each participating school. The pedagogical intervention was composed of four phases – preliminary, reflection and planning, intervention and evaluation – and demonstrated, in practice, the potential that Freirean Critical Pedagogy possess for the construction of a critical teaching praxis. Problems such as political and ideological alienation in relation to EL and its teaching, lack of interest and of student engagement during classes and out-of-context pedagogical practice can be resolved through the knowledge and application of Freirean principles, which are: Intentionality and Self-responsibility; Epistemological curiosity; Dialogy; Respect for the student; World reading; Education is ideological; Criticality; and Educate to liberate. As a result, the principles proved to be effective theoretical-practical training tools in the construction of a critical teaching praxis in order to educate reflective and socially engaged citizens, starting with the teacher him or herself.