BNCC and a practical past: Temporalities and the production of identities in history teaching

Abstract

The year 2016, in Brazil, was marked by an intensive discussion about the National Common Curricular Basis (BNCC) for history teaching. Above all, the debate focused on the narratives that should or should not be in the document, since the first version attempted to both break away from decades of Eurocentric history teaching and highlight the histories of Brazil, Africa, African descendants, Latin-Americans and Indigenous people. This investigation has approached the three versions of BNCC made available by the Ministry of Education as well as the competition of narratives in the fields of history and history teaching. From an approach situated between history and history teaching theories, this paper problematizes the basis by regarding the issue of identities and temporalities. In a theoretical dialogue with thinkers like Hayden White and the notion of practical past, among others that have enabled us to think about the processes of narrativization of the past, as well as in a dialogue with the field of history teaching, we have shown how both versions that followed the first one represent the return of an old continuing history, one that is European and disconnected from the social and identitary demands of the present time.