Anti-Racist Education: Inclusive Educational Practices and Social Development

Fernanda de Andrade Santos; Marilda Aparecida Soares

DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202602899

Article derived from a Final Course Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the E&S Magazine with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by the Pecege Institute for textual synthesis and organization.

Abstract

Antiracist education, understood as a structuring axis of inclusive education and social development, was investigated in the Brazilian context. The study aimed to identify and analyze, based on legal documents and teachers’ perceptions, educational practices capable of promoting antiracism in school and society, and how the implementation of Laws nº 10.639/03 and nº 11.645/08 contributed to social justice. A qualitative and documentary approach was adopted, with analysis of educational legislation, curricular guidelines, institutional reports, and academic literature. Complementarily, a semi-structured questionnaire was applied to 295 Basic Education teachers. The data were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively, through thematic content analysis, and validated with bibliographic studies. The results revealed a paradox: despite a robust legal framework, the implementation of antiracist policies proved fragile and sporadic, with a lack of teacher training, adequate teaching materials, and monitoring. Significant educational inequalities between white and black students were found to persist, and most teachers acknowledged the occurrence of racism in schools, but without clear institutional protocols. Neuroscientific analysis demonstrated that racism negatively impacts students’ cognitive and emotional development. It was concluded that antiracist education is central to quality education, requiring political commitment, public investment, and intersectoral articulation. The integration of Neuroscience in teacher training and the production of qualified materials are crucial to strengthen the school’s role in building a more just and inclusive society.

Keywords: Social Development; Anti-racist Education; Social Justice; Law 10.639/03; Inclusive Educational Practices.

1. Introduction

Inclusive education is a fundamental pillar for social development, promoting equal opportunities and valuing diversity. Its effective implementation contributes to the reduction of school dropout rates, to the creation of equitable learning environments, and to confronting the structural racism present in educational institutions and in the social environment (Araújo, 2018; Fernandes, 2020). In this context, anti-racist education emerges as an essential pedagogical dimension, aiming at the construction of positive identities and the strengthening of students’ self-esteem, especially those belonging to historically underrepresented groups subjected to social stigmas.

The representativeness and recognition of the civilizational contributions of African and Afro-Brazilian peoples in the school environment are not mere curricular addenda, but structuring elements for a formative process. Such an approach allows Black children and youth to recognize themselves affirmatively, re-signifying references and combating the internalization of discriminatory stereotypes (Santana, 2022). The implementation of anti-racist pedagogical practices, therefore, not only deconstructs prejudices but also creates conditions for healthy psychic and emotional development, where self-esteem is built upon belonging and identity pride. The promotion of racial equality in the educational environment thus constitutes an ethical and political commitment to ensuring comprehensive education.

In Brazil, inclusive education represents an educational paradigm that seeks to guarantee access, permanence, and learning for all students, recognizing and valuing diversity as a central element of the process. Historically marked by deep ethnic-racial inequalities, the country requires inclusive education to assume an anti-racist character, acting to repair historical exclusions and silences. School inclusion transcends mere physical presence, involving curricular adaptation, the use of diversified pedagogical methodologies, and the creation of strategies that ensure the full participation of all students, promoting ethnic-racial and social equity (Mantoan, 2011; UNESCO, 2021).

Despite the existing legal and pedagogical framework, the absence of effective anti-racist educational practices is directly associated with high rates of school dropout and the perpetuation of social inequalities. This reality highlights a practical and theoretical gap in the understanding and application of strategies that promote equity and inclusion. Social development is intrinsically linked to the quality of education offered and its capacity to promote equity, making anti-racist practices not only a legal imperative but a condition for building a democratic and inclusive society (Sposito, 2019).

This study is justified by the need to analyze how inclusive pedagogical practices can positively impact social and individual development, reduce school dropout rates, and combat manifestations of racism, broadening knowledge about educational strategies that effectively promote equity and inclusion in the school environment. As a general objective, the research sought to identify and analyze the contribution of anti-racist educational practices to inclusive education and social and individual development, based on legal documents, curricular guidelines, and experience reports.

2. Material and Methods

The present study was characterized as an exploratory and descriptive research, adopting a mixed methodological approach, of a quantitative and qualitative nature. This combination allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the theme, integrating in-depth document analysis with the perception of education professionals. The research sought to identify and analyze the contributions of anti-racist educational practices to inclusive education and social and individual development in the Brazilian context.

The documentary data collection included official and academic sources. Public data on education for ethnic-racial relations were consulted, made available by bodies such as the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the Ministry of Education (MEC), and the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP). Additionally, Brazilian educational legislation was analyzed, including Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB) No. 9,394/96, Law No. 10,639/03, and Law No. 11,645/08, which deal with the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous History and Culture in Basic Education.

Complementarily, the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCNs), the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), and MEC Resolution No. 470 of 2025, which establishes the National Policy for Equity, Ethnic-Racial Education, and Quilombola School Education (PNEERQ), were examined. Other documents and data provided by the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) were also incorporated into the documentary analysis, aiming to deepen the understanding of the legal and normative framework.

To complement the documentary analysis, a field survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. The instrument was administered through the Google Forms platform. The sample consisted of 295 teachers working in Basic Education, selected by non-probabilistic and convenience sampling. Participants were invited to answer the questionnaire through social networks, ensuring the diversity of experiences and educational contexts.

The data collection procedures followed rigorous ethical criteria, ensuring the voluntary and informed participation of all respondents. Before filling out the questionnaire, participants were informed about the research objectives and the guarantee of the confidentiality of their identities. The confidentiality of the collected information was maintained at all stages of the study, in accordance with academic research guidelines.

The analysis of the collected data was performed quantitatively and qualitatively. The data from the semi-structured questionnaire were organized and processed with the aid of QDA Miner software. For the qualitative analysis, the thematic content analysis technique was employed, which allowed for the identification of relevant categories, such as inclusion, anti-racism, equity, democratic management, and teacher training. This approach enabled the systematization of teachers’ perceptions.

The validation of the analyses was conducted through bibliographic studies, which involved reviewing contemporary academic production on racial literacy and education for ethnic-racial relations. This triangulation of data and methods sought to strengthen the robustness of interpretations and deepen the understanding of anti-racist educational practices in the context of inclusive education and social development. The results were interpreted in light of the adopted theoretical framework.

3. Results and Discussion

This research sought to identify and analyze the contribution of anti-racist educational practices to inclusive education and social and individual development, based on legal documents, curricular guidelines, and experience reports. The findings reveal a complex scenario, where a robust legal framework coexists with significant challenges in the effective implementation of policies. Documentary analysis, complemented by the perception of teachers and the perspective of Neuroscience of Learning, demonstrates that, despite normative advances, anti-racist education still faces structural obstacles that directly impact students’ cognitive and emotional development, as well as the construction of a more just and equitable society.

Law nº 10.639/03 and inclusive and anti-racist educational practice

Law No. 10.639/03, by making the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture mandatory in Basic Education, represents a fundamental legal and pedagogical milestone for inclusive and anti-racist education in Brazil. This legislation goes beyond a simple curricular determination, configuring itself as an instrument of historical reparation and recognition of the contributions of African peoples and their descendants in the formation of the nation. It proposes a rewriting of the collective understanding of Brazil, seeking to correct secular omissions and position Black people as central agents in the social, economic, and cultural formation of the country, overcoming a Eurocentric perspective.

The purpose of Law No. 10.639/03 is ambitious and vital, using education as a tool to combat racism and ingrained prejudices, deconstructing negative stereotypes, and valuing ethnic-racial diversity. For black students, the law promotes the dignity and pride of their history, strengthening self-esteem and a sense of belonging, as highlighted by Hammond (2015). For all students, it means learning a more complete and just history, forming more conscious and critical citizens, with the establishment of the National Day of Black Consciousness, on November 20, reinforcing this commitment to reflection and recognition.

The Neuroscience of Learning corroborates the importance of this legislation, demonstrating that the human brain is profoundly influenced by the sociocultural environment. Racial stereotypes and prejudices can be internalized from early childhood, affecting cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and decision-making (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Law No. 10.639/03, by mandating the teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian history and culture, offers a legal framework for systematic interventions that create new narratives and stimuli, combating racial stereotyping and promoting the redefinition of negative mental representations (Diamond, 2013).

Inclusion, from a neuroscientific perspective, transcends physical access to school, focusing on the creation of educational environments that value the diversity of experiences, histories, and cognitions. Law No. 10.639/03 is, in its essence, an inclusive law, as it seeks to repair the historical invisibility of the Black contribution to the formation of Brazil. Positive representation in the curriculum and teaching materials validates the identity of Black students, directly impacting their self-esteem, emotional self-regulation, and academic performance (Hammond, 2015).

For non-Black students, contact with plural and anti-racist narratives stimulates empathy and critical thinking, executive functions mediated by the prefrontal cortex. The implementation of the law requires a restructuring of pedagogical practices, with the selection of didactic materials that present positive images and narratives about the Black population and other ethno-racial groups. This involves the creation of activities that activate multiple neural networks (emotional, cognitive, and social) and stimulate dialogue and reflection, promoting metacognition about internalized prejudices.

Social development is intrinsically linked to a society’s capacity to ensure equity of opportunities and recognition for all. The school, as a social microcosm, can reproduce inequalities or act as an equalizing force. Anti-racist education, supported by Law nº 10.639/03, is guided by the latter path, contributing to the formation of more conscious and less prejudiced citizens. From the perspective of Social Neuroscience, this means forming individuals with a greater capacity for understanding the perspective of others, and with social reward neural circuits more adept at estimating cooperation and diversity (Lieberman, 2013).

School management assumes a vital neuroeducational role, ensuring the continuous training of teachers in ethnic-racial issues and basic neuroscience, fostering a safe and welcoming school climate, where racial conflicts are treated as learning opportunities. The integration of legal premises transversally and interdisciplinarily into the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) is crucial. The articulation between Neuroscience, Inclusive Education, and Law No. 10.639/03 offers a solid theoretical and practical foundation for a truly anti-racist education, promoting a profound transformation in the perception and appreciation of racial diversity in the school environment.

Law No. 11.645/08 as an instrument of neurocognitive expansion

Law No. 11.645/08 expanded the legal commitment of Law No. 10.639/03 by including the theme of Indigenous History and Culture in the curriculum of Basic Education, amending the Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB) Law No. 9.394/96. This legislation consolidates the idea of an education that honors the founding matrices of the Brazilian people, making the study of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture mandatory in all public and private schools, covering elementary and high school levels.

In essence, Law No. 11.645/08 proposes a break with a Eurocentric and exclusionary view that has permeated the teaching of national history for centuries. It determines that content about these constituent groups of Brazilian society be worked on throughout the school curriculum, with emphasis on the disciplines of Artistic Education, Literature, and Brazilian History. The proposal goes beyond the inclusion of isolated dates or characters, seeking a transversal and integrated approach that recognizes the centrality of the contributions of African, Afro-Brazilian, and Indigenous peoples to the social, cultural, economic, and political formation of Brazil.

The legislation proposes a re-education of ethnic-racial relations, combating racism and prejudice by valuing the history of Africa, Africans, and the presence of black culture in the formation of society. Regarding indigenous peoples, the law seeks to overcome stereotyped and folklorized views, guaranteeing the recognition of their ethnic diversity, social organizations, customs, languages, beliefs, traditions, and original rights over the lands. Thus, Law No. 11.645/08 is configured as an instrument of historical reparation and citizenship building, promoting a school environment of respect, equality, and equity.

From the perspective of Neuroscience, Law nº 11.645/08 acts as a powerful instrument for cognitive and emotional expansion, challenging hegemonic and monocultural views that limit the understanding of reality and brain development. The internalization of negative stereotypes, as demonstrated by Greenwald and Banaji (1995), is not restricted to a single racial group. Indigenous children and adolescents, as well as Black individuals, are often made invisible or represented in a caricatured way in educational materials and in the social imagination.

This distorted representation, or its complete absence, deprives all students of a rich and diverse cultural repertoire, essential for the formation of critical and complex thinking. The Neuroscience of Learning sustains that exposure to plural and positive narratives about different ethnic groups stimulates the activity of the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for cognitive flexibility, perspective-taking, and regulation of prejudiced responses (Diamond, 2013). The effective implementation of Law No. 11.645/08 requires an integrated and transversal pedagogical practice, which allows the histories, cosmologies, and knowledge of the original peoples to be understood in their historical depth and contemporaneity.

From a neuroscientific point of view, this contextualized and meaningful approach facilitates the encoding of long-term memory, connecting new information to pre-existing neural networks, enriched by emotional and social contexts (Immordino-Yang, 2016). Learning about indigenous linguistic diversity, for example, can activate areas related to language, as well as circuits of curiosity and admiration, consolidating a more respectful and well-founded view of these peoples. The valorization of indigenous cultural diversity, guaranteed by law, is a neurocognitive antidote against simplification and prejudice.

When the school curriculum incorporates narratives that challenge the view of indigenous people as figures belonging exclusively to the past, presenting their current struggles, artistic productions, and social leadership, it becomes possible to promote the re-signification of ingrained mental representations. This intentional pedagogical intervention explores neuroplasticity to build more complex, empathetic, and accurate mental schemas, fundamental for the deconstruction of racism against indigenous peoples. Law No. 11.645/08 directly dialogues with the principles of inclusive education by seeking to repair a double exclusion: the historical one, suffered by indigenous peoples, and the cognitive one, imposed on all students by a curriculum that silences voices and erases contributions.

A truly inclusive school recognizes and celebrates the neurodiversity inherent in the human experience, understanding that diversity of cultural perspectives fuels innovation, creativity, and social cohesion. Ensuring an equitable educational environment, where indigenous and black identities are valued, creates the ideal neuropsychological conditions for the brain to operate at its maximum potential, safe, motivated, and engaged. This expanded understanding of anti-racism, which encompasses black and indigenous struggles, lays the groundwork for reflection on how material conditions of existence impact learning.

National Policy of Equity and Transformation of Reality

For anti-racist education to transcend discourse and impact reality, it is essential to listen to the voices from territories of resistance. The National Curricular Guidelines for Quilombola School Education (DCNEQ), from 2012, transform the classroom into a space for welcoming the knowledge, history, and future of quilombola communities. These guidelines propose a pedagogical revolution, where learning arises from the ground one walks on, from the stories of elders, and from the collective struggle for land. In light of Neuroscience, this approach is wise, as it connects learning to the student’s deep identity and their place in the world, making school a safe territory for the brain to flourish.

In this context, the quilombola child learns about plants not from a generic book, but from their grandmother, in the community’s farm, understanding each leaf as part of their heritage. This experience, rich in emotional and sensory meaning, is what the DCNEQ seek to promote. Such practices allow children to understand that memory is stored not only in words, but in the body, in rhythms, in the smell of the earth, and in the taste of traditional food. When the school validates this knowledge, it recognizes the importance of the student’s history and culture, building self-esteem and fostering curiosity, resilience, and the courage to learn.

This education, by honoring ancestry, protects the brain from the toxic wear of racism and unleashes its full potential for life. No matter how advanced educational laws may be, it is crucial that they are effective and reach teacher training and the production of teaching materials. The National Policy for Equity, Ethnic-Racial Education and Quilombola School Education (PNEERQ), established by MEC Resolution No. 470/2025, is the response to this historical challenge, articulating the LDB, Laws No. 10.639/03 and No. 11.645/08, and the Quilombola Guidelines to confront racism, promoting continuous teacher training, the production of materials, and the fostering of school infrastructure.

From a learning perspective, a policy like PNEERQ proposes the creation of a stable climate for development. Considering that racism is a source of insecurity and chronic stress, a systemic policy that ensures teacher training to avoid microaggressions, textbooks with positive images of the Black and Indigenous population, and a school political-pedagogical project that makes sense to the community, creates conditions for the nervous system of children and adolescents to feel safe and focus their energy on learning. Thus, PNEERQ represents an urgent investment in the mental health and intellectual potential of an entire generation.

Inclusive education, neurodiversity, anti-racism, and social development

Law No. 13.465/17, the Land Regularization Law, although not commonly associated with the educational field, has profound implications for social development and inclusive education. This legislation, by facilitating the regularization of urban and rural territories, directly impacts traditional communities, quilombolas, and peripheral populations, groups predominantly composed of Black and poor people, historically marginalized. The rationale explores the connections between the right to housing, socio-emotional stability, and the conditions for effective learning, articulating Law No. 13.465/17 with anti-racist educational practices. Territorial security and cultural identity are neurobiological foundations for learning, and their denial constitutes an invisible, yet potent, barrier to inclusive education.

Neuroscience, from affective and emotional perspectives, demonstrates that the human brain operates in an ideal state for learning when its basic needs, such as safety, belonging, and predictability, are met (Immordino-Yang, 2016). Toxic stress, resulting from unstable living conditions, food insecurity, or environmental violence, elevates cortisol levels, which can damage important brain structures such as the hippocampus (crucial for memory) and the prefrontal cortex (essential for executive functions like attention, planning, and inhibitory control) (Shonkoff et al., 2012).

Law No. 13.465/17, by creating mechanisms for land regularization, can be understood as an indirectly neuroprotective public policy. For children and adolescents in quilombola and peripheral communities, the guarantee of land possession means more than a formal address, representing environmental stabilization, reduction of chronic family stress, and preservation of community and cultural ties. Cultural identity and belonging to a historically occupied territory are pillars for building positive self-esteem and a coherent *self*, neuropsychological factors closely linked to resilience and motivation to learn (Hammond, 2015).

Legal uncertainty regarding land, common in these communities, generates a state of constant alert in the nervous system, consuming cognitive resources that should be directed towards school learning. The intersectional analysis reveals that the lack of land regularization intensely affects the Black population, deepening the cycle of social and educational exclusion. Structural racism (Almeida, 2019) operates not only through interpersonal discrimination but through institutional mechanisms that systematically deny basic rights, such as secure housing.

Children living under the constant threat of forced removal or in precarious environments due to the irregularity of their surroundings experience what Neuroscience classifies as early-life adversity. This adversity can lead to epigenetic changes and alterations in the development of neural circuits related to fear and anxiety (amygdala), hindering emotional regulation and adaptation to the school environment (McEwen & McEwen, 2017). In this context, a school that aims to be inclusive and anti-racist cannot ignore the material conditions of its students’ existence.

Truly inclusive educational practices require a holistic understanding of the student, recognizing that the learning process is inseparable from their socioeconomic and emotional context. Law No. 13.465/17, in its essence, deals with the right to belong to a place. The indirect application of its principles, through school management that understands and acts upon these vulnerabilities, becomes an ethical and pedagogical imperative. This can be achieved through pedagogical projects that value the history and culture of the students’ territories and communities of origin, strengthening their identity and self-esteem.

The creation of dialogue channels between the school, residents’ associations, and public bodies to map and support families in situations of housing vulnerability, as well as the training of teachers to identify signs of toxic stress and anxiety in children, adopting a more humane and flexible stance in their practices, are essential. Neuroscience indicates that the feeling of belonging is a fundamental human need, activating reward circuits in the brain and promoting well-being (Lieberman, 2013). An anti-racist and inclusive educational practice must, therefore, incorporate a pedagogy of territoriality, an approach that recognizes the territory as a space of identity, memory, and culture.

This means going beyond the traditional curriculum and including, in the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP), the study of local history, struggles for housing, and traditional knowledge of communities. For students from quilombola communities, this aligns perfectly with the provisions of Law No. 10.639/03, creating a rich dialogue between African and Afro-Brazilian history and the local history of resistance. From a neuroscientific point of view, this contextualized and meaningful approach facilitates memory encoding and cognitive engagement, as it connects the learned content to the emotional experiences and the environment lived by the student (Immordino-Yang, 2016).

Law No. 13.465/17, although its content may seem distant from the school environment at first glance, is profoundly educational in its consequences. By guaranteeing land tenure security, it creates basic material and neuropsychological conditions for learning to occur. Its correct implementation is a *sine qua non* condition for truly inclusive education, as it addresses one of the roots of inequality that predominantly affects the Black population: territorial insecurity. Neuroscience contributes to this understanding by offering the language to explain why home stability matters for school success. It is up to inclusive education, in its interface with social development, to act on this knowledge, advocating for intersectoral public policies and building a school that is not just a space for instruction, but a safe territory for welcoming, belonging, and actively combating structural racism.

Anti-racist inclusive education: documentary analysis, neuroscience, and learning

The construction of a truly inclusive and anti-racist education requires a critical analysis of the normative and guiding documents that underpin the Brazilian educational system. The Law of Directives and Bases of National Education (LDB), the National Curricular Guidelines (DCNs), the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), as well as publications from the Ministry of Education (MEC), the Anísio Teixeira National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), were articulated with the principles of Neuroscience of Learning. The objective was to examine how these documents, in their legal and guiding dimension, can support educational practices against racism, promoting social development from a neuroscientific understanding of learning processes and identity formation.

The LDB establishes the principles and goals of Brazilian education, highlighting, in its Article 1, the guarantee of the individual’s integral formation, aimed at the responsible exercise of citizenship and qualified insertion into the labor market. The inclusion of the racial theme in education gained strength with the alteration promoted by Law No. 10.639/03, included in the LDB in articles 26-A, 79-A, and 79-B, making the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture mandatory. From the perspective of Neuroscience, the mandatory nature of this teaching represents a significant advance, as positive representation and recognition of one’s own history activate neural circuits related to self-esteem, belonging, and motivation, crucial elements for cognitive engagement (Immordino-Yang, 2016).

The LDB, by incorporating such provisions, aligns with the need to create educational environments that promote neurocognitive equity, recognizing that racial identity is a determining factor in how the brain processes and responds to the school environment. The DCNs complement the LDB, detailing the ethical, political, and aesthetic principles that should guide Basic Education. Specifically, the DCNs for the Education of Ethnic-Racial Relations and for the Teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History and Culture (2004) guide the implementation of Law No. 10.639/03, emphasizing the cross-cutting nature of the theme and the need to overcome curricular Eurocentrism.

Neuroscientifically, transversality suggests an integrated approach, which stimulates multiple neural networks through contextual and emotional connections, facilitating memory consolidation and learning transfer (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2018). The Guidelines, by recommending that the teaching of ethnic-racial relations permeate all areas of knowledge, corroborate the idea that the brain learns best through rich, meaningful, and contextualized experiences, which challenge stereotyped views and promote the restructuring of prejudiced mental schemas.

The BNCC is a normative document that defines the set of essential learnings for Basic Education, incorporating the valorization of diversity and the fight against prejudice into its general competencies. Competency 9, for example, proposes that students develop fundamental socio-emotional competencies such as empathy, dialogical capacity, constructive conflict management, and cooperation. This process implies the affirmation of self-respect and, inseparably, mutual respect, defending human dignity and rights.

This commitment is realized through a genuinely welcoming stance and critical appreciation of diversity in its multiple individual or collective dimensions, recognizing and integrating the knowledge, identities, cultural expressions, and potentialities that make up the social fabric. This approach requires, as a fundamental principle, the rejection and overcoming of any and all forms of prejudice and discrimination. From the perspective of Neuroscience, this competence directly involves the development of the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for emotional regulation, perspective-taking (theory of mind), and inhibitory control: executive functions fundamental for respectful and anti-racist social interactions (Diamond, 2013).

The BNCC also explicitly states, in various curricular components, the need to address Afro-Brazilian culture. In History, for example, the study of Africa and the African diaspora is foreseen, while in Arts and Literature, Black cultural production is valued. This multifaceted approach activates different brain processing systems (visual, auditory, emotional), improving memory consolidation and the construction of more complex and positive mental representations about the Black population. Affective/Emotional Neuroscience sustains that learning associated with positive emotions and self-recognition is deeper and more lasting (Immordino-Yang, 2016), which highlights the importance of the BNCC in foreseeing such approaches.

The MEC, through the National Curricular Guidelines for Quilombola School Education (2012) and the National Plan for the Implementation of the National Curricular Guidelines for Ethnic-Racial Relations Education (2013), offers specific guidance for the practice of laws and guidelines. These documents emphasize the importance of teacher training and the adaptation of political-pedagogical projects, aligning with Neuroscience findings on teacher brain plasticity: teachers who receive continuous training are more capable of creating safe and challenging learning environments that promote the change of implicit attitudes and beliefs (Hammond, 2015).

INEP, in turn, through its statistical surveys, highlights racial inequalities in Brazilian education. Data from the School Census and the Basic Education Evaluation System (SAEB) show persistent disparities in indicators such as pass rates, school dropout, and proficiency between white and black students. These quantitative data, when analyzed in light of Neuroscience, reveal the concrete effects of structural racism on brain development: toxic stress resulting from discrimination and social vulnerability can compromise executive function and learning capacity, creating a cycle of disadvantage that perpetuates itself (Shonkoff et al., 2012).

INEP, therefore, provides the empirical basis that justifies and urges the implementation of anti-racist educational policies. UNESCO, in the publication Education for Global Citizenship: Topics and Learning Objectives (2015) and in reports on inclusive education, positions the fight against racism within the broader context of human rights and sustainable development. Its documents frequently highlight the importance of socio-emotional education and critical thinking for the promotion of peace and tolerance. Social Neuroscience corroborates this view, demonstrating that educational interventions that cultivate empathy and intercultural understanding can modulate neural circuits associated with social reward and cooperation (Lieberman, 2013), thus strengthening the social fabric.

The joint analysis of the documents reveals a progressive convergence of the Brazilian regulatory framework towards an education that values diversity and combats racism. The LDB opens the legal possibility, the DCNs detail the pedagogical principles, the BNCC operationalizes these intentions into competencies and skills, and the publications of MEC, INEP, and UNESCO offer practical guidance and highlight the urgency of the issue. Neuroscience of Learning provides the biological substrate that validates and strengthens these guidelines. It explains the reasons why representativeness matters (activation of reward and identity circuits), transversality is effective (involvement of multiple neural networks), a safe school environment is fundamental (reduction of cortisol and protection of the hippocampus), and teacher training is crucial (brain plasticity and behavior modeling).

Therefore, the effective implementation of these normative documents is not just a legal requirement or an ethical imperative; it is an evidence-based neuroeducational strategy to promote equitable social development. The analyzed documents constitute a necessary framework for promoting inclusive and anti-racist education. However, the gap between normative prescription and the reality of classrooms is still significant, so Neuroscience can emerge as a powerful tool to reduce this gap, offering educators and managers foundations and strategies to implement legal determinations. Teacher training in Basic Neuroscience, focusing on how racism affects the brain and how anti-racist practices can optimize learning, thus becomes an indispensable step.

Morin’s Seven Knowledges and anti-racist education

The work “The Seven Liberal Arts for the Future Education”, by Edgar Morin (2000), offers a fundamental philosophical and pedagogical framework for rethinking inclusive and anti-racist education. Morin challenges fragmented education and proposes a reform of thought based on complexity, contextualization, and the ethics of the human gender. This study articulates these liberal arts with the implementation of Laws nº 10.639/03 and nº 11.645/08, arguing that anti-racist education is, par excellence, an exercise of complex thought and a condition for equitable social development.

The first knowledge, “The blindnesses of knowledge: error and illusion”, connects directly to the fight against epistemic racism. The single, Eurocentric history that denies African and indigenous contributions, which permeated the school curriculum for centuries, is an institutionalized blindness. Anti-racist laws act as an antidote, forcing education to confront its own errors and illusions. They demand teaching that recognizes the blindnesses of colonialism and scientific racism, promoting an ecology of knowledge where traditional knowledge, oral narratives, and the worldviews of indigenous and Afro-diasporic peoples are validated.

The second and third knowledges, “The principles of pertinent knowledge” and “Teaching the human condition”, provide a methodological basis. Morin argues that pertinent knowledge is that which is capable of contextualizing and situating information within its entirety. Anti-racist education, when fragmented into isolated classes on Afro-culture, loses its power. It should be, according to the proposal of the present research, transversal and integrated. Teaching about the human condition in Brazil inevitably means teaching about its mixed, conflictual, and unequal formation. It means presenting the human being as biological, psychological, social, historical, and, crucially, cultural and racialized.

Neuroscience corroborates that the brain learns more meaningfully through interconnected and emotionally relevant contexts, as proposed by Morin with the concept of pertinent knowledge. The fourth knowledge, “Teaching earthly identity,” broadens the horizon of the anti-racist struggle to a planetary perspective. Earthly identity invites us to recognize that humanity is one and diverse. Valuing Brazilian ethnic-racial diversity is an essential step towards understanding global human diversity. The struggles for quilombola and indigenous territories, discussed in relation to Law No. 13.465/17, are not just local; they are manifestations of the fundamental link between identity, culture, and land, essential for a planetary conception of belonging and sustainability.

Finally, the knowledge that deals with uncertainty, understanding, and ethics offers the final horizon. Anti-racist education deals with the uncertainties of history, the conflicts of memory, and the complexity of identities. Its ultimate goal is mutual understanding, as advocated by Morin, and the construction of an ethic for humankind. Anti-racist pedagogical practice is, in its essence, an ethical exercise of recognizing the other, repairing historical injustices, and promoting concrete solidarity. The “social development” sought will only be fully realized when education forms individuals capable of this complex understanding and this inclusive ethic, overcoming the blindness of prejudice to see the richness of human diversity.

Intersectionality in educational practice

The concept of intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) and deepened by Patricia Hill Collins (2021), provides the indispensable analytical tool for operationalizing the proposed anti-racist inclusive education. While Morin offers the overview and ethical principles, intersectionality provides the critical lens to examine how the social markers of race, class, gender, territoriality, and ability intersect, producing unique experiences of oppression and privilege in the school environment. It is argued that the effective implementation of Law nº 10.639/03 and Law nº 11.645/08 requires an intersectional reading, capable of diagnosing specific vulnerabilities and forging truly inclusive pedagogies.

Intersectionality challenges the idea of homogeneity within groups. It is not enough to speak of Black students or Indigenous students. A Black girl, a resident of a peripheral and quilombola community, experiences racism, sexism, and socio-spatial marginalization in an intertwined way, which singularly impacts her self-esteem, her access to opportunities, and her relationship with school. At this point, when discussing the Land Regularization Law (Law nº 13.465/17), it is shown how territorial insecurity (class/race) is a material and psychological barrier to learning. Neuroscience, here, dialogues with intersectionality by demonstrating how the toxic stress generated by these overlapping oppressions cognitively affects the student.

Patricia Hill Collins (2021) speaks precisely about matrices of domination and intersectional thought. Applied to school management and teacher training, this implies that the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) cannot treat racial, gender, disability inclusion, and socioeconomic issues in separate chapters. Intersectional thought requires an analysis of how the school structure, as well as its curricula, subjects, and power relations, can simultaneously reproduce various forms of discrimination. The proposal here is for a cross-cutting curriculum for anti-racist laws that gains depth when understood as an opportunity to dismantle this matrix, creating content that shows, for example, the history of Black and Indigenous women or the struggle for accessibility in traditional communities.

On the other hand, Collins also emphasizes agency and the construction of interpretive communities. Intersectional anti-racist education should not see students merely as victims of oppression, but as subjects of knowledge and resistance. Valuing quilombola and indigenous knowledge, as proposed when discussing specific Curricular Guidelines, is to recognize this epistemic agency. It is about creating an interpretive community in school where community knowledge dialogues with academic knowledge, generating new and emancipatory knowledge. Neuroscience supports this idea by indicating that meaningful learning and the construction of a positive identity strengthen neural resilience.

It is therefore proposed that intersectionality is fundamental to forging solid political alliances, problematizing that an inclusive education that is only racial or only focused on disability is insufficient. In this proposal, it is believed that the school should become a laboratory for recognizing differences and building solidarities. The desired social development will be more robust if the school community learns to see the connections between the anti-racist struggle, the feminist struggle, the struggle for social justice, and the struggle for inclusive special education. In this way, educational practice ceases to be a technical application of isolated laws and transforms into a coherent political-pedagogical project aligned with the complexity of life and committed to radical inclusion, which sees the student in their entirety and multidimension.

Ethnic-racial affirmative policies in Brazilian education

The theoretical and documentary reflection developed highlights a robust legal and pedagogical framework for anti-racist and inclusive education. However, the transposition of this normative framework to the daily practice of schools constitutes a historical challenge, the dimension of which can only be fully grasped through the analysis of empirical data. This study examined recent statistical evidence mapping the implementation of policies for education on ethnic-racial relations (ERER) in Brazil. The quantitative analysis aims to complement and anchor the qualitative discussion, providing an objective diagnosis of the progress, persistent gaps, and the impact of racial inequalities in the educational system.

The integration of this data into the theoretical framework of Neuroscience of Learning and Intersectionality allowed for a deeper understanding of the numbers, interpreting them not as abstractions, but as concrete indicators of social, cognitive, and institutional processes that affect the integral development of millions of students. The analyzed data come from three main and complementary sources: the national diagnosis of the National Policy for Equity, Ethnic-Racial Education, and Quilombola School Education (PNEERQ); the thematic bulletin Learning in Focus; and the Brazilian Yearbook of Basic Education. Together, they illuminate everything from the perception and structuring of pedagogical actions to the effective results in terms of equity.

The synthesis report of the PNEERQ diagnosis (BRASIL, 2024) offers a comprehensive overview of the operationalization stage of Laws nº 10.639/03 and 11.645/08. An initially positive finding indicates that 87% of municipal and state education networks declare they are developing actions related to ERER. However, a more detailed analysis reveals the fragility of this implementation. Approximately 65% of these activities are concentrated in the month of November, orbiting around Black Consciousness Day. This temporal concentration confirms a recurring criticism in the literature: the ethnic-racial theme is still treated as a punctual and commemorative event, in flagrant misalignment with the principle of transversality prescribed in the National Curriculum Guidelines.

From a neuroscientific point of view, this sporadic nature is pedagogically ineffective. The deconstruction of implicit biases and the construction of new positive and complex mental representations about racialized groups demand repeated, contextualized, and integrated exposure to diverse areas of knowledge, exploring neuroplasticity systematically (Diamond, 2013; Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2018). Isolated actions have little capacity to promote the profound re-signification of stereotypes internalized since early childhood, which compromises the effectiveness of interventions.

Another critical bottleneck quantified by the diagnosis refers to pedagogical inputs. Only 38% of educational managers report that their networks have specific and quality teaching materials for teaching Afro-Brazilian and indigenous history and culture. This scarcity has direct implications for positive representativeness, a key concept for both anti-racist education and Neuroscience. The absence of books, images, and narratives that affirm the identity of black and indigenous students deprives their brains of the necessary stimuli for building solid academic self-esteem and a sense of belonging, neuropsychological factors fundamental for cognitive engagement and emotional self-regulation (Hammond, 2015; Immordino-Yang, 2016).

For students not belonging to these groups, the lack of diversified materials limits the expansion of cultural repertoire and the development of empathy and intercultural critical thinking. The most severe challenge, however, lies in teacher training. The diagnosis reveals that only 29% of basic education teachers have participated in continuing education in ERER in the last two years. This training deficit is one of the main mechanisms for reproducing the gap between law and practice. Without adequate training, educators are not only unprepared to develop innovative didactic sequences but also remain unarmed to identify and combat their own implicit biases.

These biases, operating unconsciously, can modulate expectations, interactions, and evaluations, creating a climate of microaggressions that acts as a source of toxic stress for racialized students. Neuroscience is clear in associating chronic stress with reduced working memory capacity, sustained attention, and executive functions (Shonkoff et al., 2012), creating a biological barrier to learning that adds to social barriers. The Learning in Focus Bulletin (Instituto Unibanco, 2025) confirms and details this analysis, especially from the perception of school managers.

Your data show that in more than 60% of schools, ERER activities are occasional and that only 44% of schools have the theme explicitly incorporated into their Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) as a cross-cutting axis. This absence in the central document that defines the institution’s identity and priorities is a powerful indicator of marginalization. From the perspective of Collins’ (2021) matrix of domination, the non-institutionalization of ERER in the PPP reveals how school structures can naturalize the invisibility of certain knowledge and histories, reproducing an exclusionary epistemic order even in the absence of explicit discriminatory intent.

If the previous data reveal the means, the Brazilian Yearbook of Basic Education (Todos pela Educação, 2025) exposes the ends: the brutal impact of racial inequalities on educational outcomes. The numbers are a portrait of structural inequity. The age-grade distortion rate (school delay) is 45% higher among Black students in Elementary School and 60% higher in High School, compared to white students. The dropout rate in High School is 70% higher for Black students. In all editions of SAEB, proficiency averages in Portuguese Language and Mathematics are systematically and significantly lower for Black students.

These statistics do not reflect differences in ability, but rather the cumulative result of a system that overloads some of its students with adversity. They materialize, in numbers, the concept of structural racism (Almeida, 2019) and allow inferences about its neurobiological effects. Greater socioeconomic vulnerability, direct and indirect experience of discrimination, lack of curricular representativeness, and insecurity in multiple dimensions (including territorial, as discussed in relation to Law No. 13.465/17) converge to create an environment of adversity early in life.

Such an environment generates toxic stress which, as Neuroscience demonstrates, can alter the developing brain architecture, compromising structures such as the hippocampus (crucial for memory) and the prefrontal cortex, the seat of executive functions (McEwen & McEwen, 2017). Proficiency data, therefore, can be read as an indicator that reveals, in part, the neurocognitive impairment induced by the unequal conditions to which they are subjected. Intersectional analysis is present when observing that the worst indicators frequently fall upon the group of black, poor, and peripheral students, demonstrating the overlap of oppressions of race, class, and territory. The guarantee of basic rights, such as safe housing, thus proves to be a material prerequisite not only for well-being but for the very ability to learn.

In summary, the statistical analysis presented confirms and quantifies the challenges theorized throughout this work. It demonstrates that, despite the advanced legal framework, there is an implementation deficit characterized by discontinuity of actions, lack of qualified inputs, and, above all, insufficient teacher training. Simultaneously, it quantifies the perverse impact of racial inequalities on the school trajectory, offering a solid empirical basis for the thesis that racism is a powerful barrier to social and individual development. This data reinforces the urgency of the proposed approach: an anti-racist education that is systemic, as envisioned by the PNEERQ, grounded in Neuroscience knowledge about how the brain learns and is affected by the environment, and intersectional, capable of seeing and confronting the multiple dimensions of exclusion. The numbers indicate that overcoming this gap is not a technical adjustment, but an ethical and neuroeducational imperative for building a truly inclusive school and an equitable society.

Teacher perceptions of practices, challenges, and potentials of ERER

The statistical analysis of the previous chapter diagnosed, in objective numbers, the fragile implementation of policies for Education on Ethnic-Racial Relations (ERER): activities concentrated in November (65% of networks), lack of materials (available in only 38% of networks), and a severe training deficit (only 29% of teachers participated in training in the last two years). To transcend the cold abstraction of percentages and understand their concrete materialization in the school space, a qualitative analysis of teacher perceptions was undertaken. The data examined were collected via field research and reveal how these macro-indicators translate into individual experiences, anxieties, and efforts, configuring a scenario where the recognition of the theme’s importance coexists with persistent structural obstacles. A total of 295 professionals working in Basic Education in the country responded.

The sample presents the sociodemographic and professional characterization of the respondent educators. Regarding the ethnic-racial profile, 161 respondents (54.6%) declared themselves white, while 84 (28.5%) identified as brown and 43 (14.6%) as black, totaling 127 individuals (43.1%) who declared themselves black or brown. In relation to professional experience, 126 professionals (42.7%) declared more than 15 years of experience in basic education. This data is relevant, considering that the approval of Law No. 10.639 occurred in 2003 and Law No. 11.645 in 2008, which means that 57.3% of the educators began their teaching activities after these laws came into effect, while the remaining 42.7% followed the implementation processes since the first actions proposed by educational policies.

Other collected data refer to the age distribution, which ranged from 19 to 73 years, with a notable concentration of professionals over 40 years old. Regarding gender, there was an expressive female predominance, with 221 respondents (74.9%), versus 72 (24.4%) male. Concerning academic background, the majority hold a bachelor’s degree (155; 52.5%) and *lato sensu* postgraduate studies (126; 42.7%), with 55 (18.6%) holding *stricto sensu* postgraduate degrees. The sample is predominantly from the Southeast region (264; 89.5%), with activities distributed among private schools (133; 45.1%), state networks (93; 31.5%), and municipal networks (90; 30.5%).

The curricular components taught are diverse, with emphasis on Portuguese Language, Arts, Human Sciences, and versatile teachers for the initial years. Regarding professional practice, pedagogical practices, and familiarity with the principles of Laws nº 10.639/03 and nº 11.645/08, the collected data indicate a positive perception, with 78 respondents (26.4%) assigning a score of 5 and 76 (25.8%) a score of 4, meaning more than 50% of respondents demonstrated high familiarity. When asked about the frequency with which the contents are incorporated, the responses obtained indicated that 80 (27.1%) state they do so with the maximum frequency (score 5) and 88 (29.8%) with frequency 4.

However, when evaluating their own preparation to develop anti-racist pedagogical activities, the responses focused on scores 3 (98 responses) and 4 (97 responses), indicating a moderate perception of preparedness. Regarding the indicated pedagogical resources, the most used are audiovisual materials (205; 69.5%) and interdisciplinary projects (177; 60%), followed by specific literature (151; 51.2%) and textbooks (139; 47.1%). The analysis of the institutional context reveals that the presence of guidelines on ERER in the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) is perceived diffusely, with 80 respondents (27.1%) at the midpoint (score 3) and 64 (21.7%) at the lowest level (score 1).

The school’s commitment to implementation is evaluated with moderate scores (3, 4, and 5 concentrate the responses), but the provision of specific materials by the school is critically evaluated: 75 teachers (25.4%) assigned a score of 1 and another 75 (25.4%) a score of 3. Even more serious is the perception of monitoring or evaluation of the implementation, in which 107 respondents (36.3%) marked the minimum score (1). Participation in training offered by the network is low, with 89 professionals (30.2%) assigning a score of 1. The quality of this training, when it occurs, is also poorly evaluated, with 69 (23.4%) assigning a score of 1 and 78 (26.4%) a score of 3.

The availability of support materials through the network is the most critical point, with the lowest scores (1 and 2) totaling 101 responses (34.2%). Despite structural challenges, teachers perceive a significant impact of anti-racist education on learning. On a scale of 1 to 10, 63 respondents (21.4%) gave a score of 10 and 49 (16.6%) a score of 8. The aspects of learning perceived as most impacted are: respect for diversity (239; 81%), students’ self-esteem and identity (225; 76.3%), critical thinking (186; 63.1%), and interpersonal relationships at school (183; 62%). A low perception of impact on “general academic performance” was recorded by 71 (24.1%).

Regarding the main challenges pointed out, respondents indicated: lack of teacher training (180; 61%), lack of time in the curriculum (135; 45.8%), absence of institutional support (130; 44.1%), and resistance from the school community (127; 43.1%). As for the occurrence of racism in the school environment, 130 teachers (44.1%) state that cases occur “rarely” and 120 (40.7%) that they occur “frequently”, totaling 84.8% of respondents who recognize racism as a reality present in their schools. Paradoxically, only 99 (33.6%) state that the unit has a protocol to deal with these cases. Finally, 191 respondents (64.7%) declared no knowledge of the municipality’s adherence to the PNEERQ.

In summary, the data reveal a paradox: qualified and engaged teachers, who recognize the benefits of anti-racist education for student development, operate within an institutional context that fails to provide quality training, materials, monitoring, and protocols. This disconnect between individual teaching practice and systemic support creates a scenario of vulnerability, where the success of implementing Laws No. 10.639/03 and No. 11.645/08 depends on isolated efforts, rather than being a consolidated policy. The absence of this support represents the main barrier to creating a psychologically safe school environment conducive to equity and learning for all.

4. Conclusion

This research sought to identify and analyze educational practices capable of promoting anti-racism in schools and society, understanding their contribution to inclusive education and social development, based on legal documents and teachers’ perceptions. It was found that, although Brazil has a robust legal framework, including Laws No. 10.639/03 and No. 11.645/08, the implementation of these policies proved to be fragile and sporadic. A significant lack of teacher training, adequate didactic materials, and monitoring of actions was observed, with activities often concentrated in commemorative events. This discontinuity and lack of institutional support contributed to the persistence of educational inequalities, evidenced by high rates of age-grade distortion and school dropout among black students, as well as lower proficiency in standardized assessments. Neuroscientific analysis showed that racism and socioeconomic adversities generate toxic stress, negatively impacting students’ cognitive and emotional development, compromising executive functions and learning capacity. In contrast, inclusive and representative educational environments, which value diversity and identity, favor neuropsychological well-being and optimize learning potential.

The main contribution of this study lies in the articulation between the legal framework, empirical data, and Learning Neuroscience, which offers a scientific foundation for the urgency and effectiveness of anti-racist education. It has been demonstrated that combating racism is not only an ethical and social imperative but a neuroeducational necessity for the integral development of students. Identified limitations include the difficulty in translating legislation into the daily practice of schools due to a lack of systemic support and reliance on individual teacher efforts. Future directions suggested include the inclusion of Neuroscience in ongoing teacher training, the encouragement of applied research that generates qualified pedagogical materials, and the strengthening of intersectoral networks. The National Policy for Equity, Ethnic-Racial Education, and Quilombola School Education (PNEERQ) emerges as an essential systemic action plan to consolidate truly inclusive education, promoting social justice and the full development of all individuals.

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