Alfabetização Emancipadora associada à alfabetização científica: estudo de livros didáticos de Ciências em Itacoatiara-AM

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the emancipatory potential of two science textbooks for the 6th and 7th grades of elementary school (grades 6-9) used in state and municipal schools in Itacoatiara, Amazonas state, from the perspective of emancipatory literacy associated with scientific literacy. It also sought to identify the exercises in the selected samples within the ideological, cognitive, and civic dimensions, using a qualitative content analysis model for textbooks. Furthermore, the study aimed to verify the textbooks' compliance with the PNLD (National Textbook Program) guidelines that cover the selected materials and to analyze the extent to which the science textbooks possess aspects of scientific literacy that leverage emancipatory literacy. For the analysis focused on scientific literacy, 25 indicators based on authors in the field were used. The results indicate that, in the Araribá textbook, most of the analyzed exercises demand higher cognitive skills, while in the A Conquista textbook, activities of a lower cognitive level predominate. Regarding the categories of emancipatory literacy, the prevalence of critical thinking and cognitive empowerment stood out in both materials. As for the citizen profiles that the books tend to form, the profiles of "personally responsible citizen" and "justice-oriented citizen" stood out. In the area of scientific literacy, a higher incidence of the categories "language and communication," "scientific knowledge," and "stimulation of critical thinking" was observed in the book Araribá, while in the material A Conquista the categories "language and communication," "scientific knowledge," and "sociocultural contextualization" predominated. The results obtained strongly contribute to research focusing on citizenship education, showing the reality of what can be found in the various materials selected as samples of research in this field. However, based on the analytical method of Valentim da Silva (2019) and the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy, it is argued that for a material to be considered emancipatory, it is essential that it fits into an equitable combination of the categories of scientific literacy, combined solely with the profile of the "citizen oriented towards justice" or mixed with the "participatory citizen". Using this perception as a parameter, the research indicates that the books Araribá and A Conquista contain strong and important aspects for the development of emancipatory literacy, but unfortunately the books do not fully and completely meet the expected emancipatory potential, since although they may indicate the presence of the categories of emancipatory literacy, in both books the citizen that prevailed was the "personally responsible citizen" and only in second place the "citizen oriented towards justice".