In this paper, we build on southern and decolonial theories of multilingualism and invite a south-north conversation through a concept we propose as "reciprocal multilingual awareness." Reciprocity is a core value of southern societies that balance pluralities of episteme, language, and communality. Central features of southern…

The author teaches a literacy course for preservice teachers, which they take during the first year of their four-year course of study. One of the most important activities in the course is Story Time, which consists of the author reading a children's book to preservice teachers during every class, followed by a discussion of the story. After the…

Brazil is a country with marked social asymmetries, which have an impact on the impoverishment of basic educational proficiencies. We present a snapshot in a cross-sectional documentary study that registered the risk of distorting educational processes even more intensely, due to the easing of political and pedagogical decision-making. Planning…

Cultural competence is essential for physical education teachers due to the increased cultural diversity in today's student populations. As a consequence, teacher education programs should aim to facilitate the development of cultural competence. The purpose of this article is to introduce an innovative course called Soccer Across Cultures, which…

The aim of this chapter is to take a critical and decolonial stance towards the experiences of Indigenous people in the urban diasporas of Brazil. We do this by discussing ethnographic data that provide insights into the impact of this migration on the construction of the identities of Indigenous Brazilians who move to urban spaces and consider…

In this paper we report on an activity aimed at building an electromagnetic wave. This was part of a class on the concept of mass offered to a group of 20 pre-service Brazilian physics teachers. The activity consisted of building a plane wave using an apparatus in which it is possible to fit some rods representing electric and magnetic fields into…

This article presents the process of widespread teacher training based on the Earth Charter in the municipal area of Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America. This effort diffused knowledge of the Earth Charter through 800 educators and by means of them, to one million children. This process was developed by the team from UMAPAZ--Open University of the…

This paper reports on an international experience designed, within a sociocultural frame, for teacher education students to examine theoretical knowledge and make visible local knowledge on diversity issues, and the interrelatedness and complexity of language, literacy and culture and its impact on educational practices. It examines the context of…

A discussion of Brazilian teacher education offers four conclusions: problems must be handled in association with other professional, academic, and social problems; historical roots determine the way issues are faced; economic conditions are the source of most obstacles to change; and quality is the key to making the issues effective. (SM)

Notes prevailing attitudes about early childhood education in Brazil. Examines issues and recent trends in preparing Brazilian teachers of young children: (1) legislation shifting educational responsibility from federal and state governments to local communities; (2) low teacher salaries; (3) poor teaching conditions; (4) the need for leadership;…