World Education Day: School visits to Archive Center reflect commitment to global agenda

April 28 is World Education Day. This date was proclaimed by the leaders of 164 countries, including Brazil, during the World Education Forum in 2000, when they pledged to pursue global educational development and achieve a series of goals by 2030. According to Daniele Amado, coordinator of the Personal Archives Program at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ School of Social Sciences (FGV CPDOC) and a professor on the school’s Graduate Program in History, Politics and Cultural Heritage, Brazil faces some significant challenges in achieving these goals. The goals include: Ensuring universal access to high-quality basic education, especially in remote and disadvantaged regions; Improving infrastructure and resources in public sector schools; Supporting and training teachers; Combating socioeconomic inequalities, which have a direct impact on the quality of education. World Education Day emphasizes the transformative role of education in social and economic progress, reinforcing the importance of inclusive and equitable education systems for all. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the importance of involving families, communities and civil society in the educational process, recognizing their role in supporting the learning of children and young people. In this context, one of FGV CPDOC’s most notable initiatives is the School Visits Program. School Visits Program Since 2022, the FGV CPDOC Archive Center has been hosting school visits in an interactive educational room developed specifically for this purpose. The School Visits Program encourages fun dialogue between elementary school students and FGV CPDOC’s collection of the personal archives of prominent women and men. This dialogue is mediated by an educational team that uses the principles of horizontal, affectionate education, listening and respect for the plurality of knowledge, as proposed by Gloria Jean Watkins (known by her pen name “bell hooks”) and Paulo Freire. About the visits By listening attentively and making careful observations, the team is able to identify a variety of needs and preferences among visitors, which results in different visit formats being offered. This flexibility manifests itself in various ways, from the perception of reading difficulties in some groups to the inclusion of elements closer to the daily lives of certain young people. These practices aim to create a welcoming environment that is conducive to building bridges and dialogue during each visit. During the meetings, the groups are invited to discuss problems involving historical sources and to analyze and criticize past and present records, making students and teachers protagonists and producers of historical knowledge, thus fostering the development of civic awareness. They also have the opportunity to learn a little about the management work carried out by the team responsible for FGV CPDOC’s archives. Topics such as how these archives are collected, how the documents are physically and digitally preserved, and how they are disseminated to the public are covered. “Vargas Challenge” rug The “Vargas Challenge” rug, which depicts a board game, was developed especially for the visit room. Simulating a presidential race, with events reminiscent of the Vargas administrations, it is the highlight of visits. Students are divided into two parties and have to choose their candidates for an election. The participants who are not running for election act as political advisors to the candidates and are challenged to build justifications for them. This activity encourages active participation and stimulates critical thinking, argumentation and reflection on democratic values and human rights, while contributing to the development of analytical and decision-making skills. “True or False” game Students are also invited to take part in a “True or False” game about historical sources, document-related heritage and preservation. This game allows educators to observe how students construct their knowledge throughout the visit. The room also has two interactive screens with games and a display featuring a series of audio documents from the collection. Provision of transportation FGV CPDOC offers transportation to public schools in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, in order to ensure equal access to its visits program. This initiative recognizes inequalities and seeks to provide new learning and integration opportunities to all students. By providing transportation, the program significantly expands the scope of the visits, allowing students in different locations to have access to FGV CPDOC’s archives and the experience of interacting with the institution’s cultural space. Impact of visits These visits have a major positive social impact. The education professionals who take part report that the visits are not only fun and instructive, but also allow students to come into contact with different spaces in the city, including the neighborhood of Botafogo, the Archive Center and FGV itself. This helps broaden student’s horizons, giving them a wider view of the environment in which they live and study. Between 2022 and 2023, there were 87 school visits, involving 1,677 students and 185 education professionals, 90% from government schools. The School Visits Program is part of the school’s Heritage Promotion and Education Project, coordinated by Daniele Amado and Martina Spohr, both FGV CPDOC professors, and supported by the FGV Research and Applied Knowledge Network. Archive Center Game As well as these visits, last year, the Archive Center launched a smartphone game called the Archive Center Game, which simulates research into the personal archives of characters from Brazil’s political history. Through different missions, players can explore different types of documents and themes. The game was launched as part of the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The Archive Center Game is another initiative carried out by FGV CPDOC’s Heritage Promotion and Education Project, which since 2017 has been working to facilitate the public’s access to the school’s historical archives, promoting social inclusion through heritage education. This project also runs in-person and distance activities for elementary and high school students, undergraduate students and professionals in the fields of education and archive management. To find out more, read the full article about this subject. Venue:  Archive Center 60 Rua Jornalista Orlando Dantas, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro Phone: 21 37995696 / 21 37996167  To find out more about the Heritage Promotion and Education Project, visit its website. To learn more about the Archive Center, visit its website.