Formação crítica de professores de língua inglesa: a pós-memória como resistência

Abstract

In this paper, we will specifically focus on the influence of historical events in the education of language teachers steming from the concept of postmemory, a term coined by Mariane Hirsch to describe the experience of the second generation in relation do historical traumatic events lived by the previous generation. In Brazil, the 1964 Military Coup and the following 20 years of dictatorship still impact all areas of our lives, including education and language teaching. Using memory to help confront and problematize historical events may create space for an education, including teacher education, which tries to avoid the mistakes of the past and seeks to build a better future. Through the generation and analysis of qualitative data, we report on a study with English language teachers working in different contexts. Written narratives of the participants’ experiences constitute the data for this research. Based on the results, we see the potential of postmemory to promote critical awareness of historical events, making use of social, cultural and historical influences in teacher education and problematizing the relationship between life histories, memory and postmemory as tools for resistance and critical education.