The English teaching practicum and the decolonial challenge: problematizing its agents’ interpersonal relationships

Abstract

The discussions presented in this article are part of a qualitative study (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2013) and focus on the interpersonal relationships developed in the English teaching practicum in the course of Letras. Our aim is to expand the possibilities of thinking about the relationships that are built in this experience that involves the university and the school in the pre-service teacher education. Thus, the discussions were developed with public school teachers, pre-service teachers and teachers from public universities from the Midwest region of Brazil. Their views on the relationships established in the teaching practicum raised problematizations concerning the lack of collaborative work, the hierarchization of knowledge and the conflicts of a teaching practicum which is planned in the university without negotiation with the school agents. The challenge of looking at these relationships grounded on decolonial thinking helps us to recognize and at the same time confront the privilege historically ascribed to academic knowledge in search of more egalitarian practices.