“Narratives of America: discourses and local dynamics” is the central theme of the 5th Continuing Training Course offered in the context of the National Olympiad in Brazilian History (ONHB), a project carried out by the History Department of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH ) from Unicamp. Registration must be made by February 18th, at ONHB website. Classes will be taught online from March 1st to May 10th, 2018.
The course is aimed at History teachers who participate in the Olympiad, whose registration is free, but also for students and professionals from other areas who are interested in the topic. They must pay a single fee of Rif$ 190,00. According to the ONHB coordinator, professor Cristina Meneguello, the objective of the initiative is to promote reflections, in addition to offering information and materials, such as texts and videos, that contribute to enriching the work of teachers in the classroom, in primary and secondary education. .
According to the professor, in this edition the course will work with a rare topic, normally limited to the universe of academia, which is the history of Latin America. The person responsible for the course, PhD student in History Ivia Minelli, explains that the idea is to critically address different issues related to the Latin American reality. “We often forget that Brazil is also part of Latin America. Let’s talk about transnational processes that occurred simultaneously in several countries”, she adds.
In this sense, continues Ivia, the course will address subjects such as indigenous culture, colonization and dictatorship, to name just three examples. “The narrative of America is very plural, and this is a characteristic that we intend to highlight in the proposed activities”, highlights the doctoral student. Professor Cristina Meneguello adds that one of the activities to be completed by course participants is the presentation of a lesson plan.
The material is subsequently evaluated by a panel of experts, who suggest possible adjustments to prepare the final version. Then, the 50 best lesson plans are selected and made available for public consultation on the ONHB website. “This type of work is very important because, in addition to helping teachers create more organized and interesting classes, it also creates a repository for their peers to consult”, considers the Olympics coordinator.
History
The first National Olympiad in Brazilian History (ONHB) was held in 2009. This year the event completes its tenth edition. ONHB has an original format. Teams made up of four people participate, three students (eighth and ninth years of elementary school and any year of high school) and the school teacher. History of the school. There are five online phases, which last one week each. The answers to the proposed questions are obtained by participants through debate with teammates, research in books and the internet and consultation with teachers.
In the opinion of professor Cristina Meneguello, this format is interesting because it allows for greater interaction between team members, as well as a greater depth of the topic. “That’s the cool thing. To participate in the Olympics, it is not necessarily necessary to master the topic. The purpose is to stimulate learning through the search for an answer, which involves research, discussion and the ability to work in groups”, she points out.
After nine editions, the coordinator of the Olympics, who has professor Alessandra Pedro by her side, understands that it is now possible to draw some conclusions regarding the relevance of the event. One of them, she says, is the fact that ONHB has awakened a lot of talent among students, who chose to major in History. “On the other hand, many teachers also felt encouraged to continue their studies, and went on to pursue a master’s or professional master’s degree,” she reports.
Another fact that demonstrates the vigor of the Olympics refers to the evolution of the number of participants. The first edition had 15 thousand subscribers. Since then, the event has only grown. In 2017, there were 42 thousand participants. Among the teams, 307 (around 1,2 people) were called up to participate in the final of the competition. Ceará was the State with the highest number of finalists (119 teams), followed by Rio Grande do Norte (60 teams), São Paulo (37 teams) and Bahia (24 teams).
The Olympics is made up of five phases held online. Afterwards, the finalist teams participate in the in-person grand final, which takes place at Unicamp, in Campinas. In the final, the teams take an essay test and, the following day, participate in the awards ceremony with the presentation of medals. The 10th ONHB calendar will be released soon.
