{"id":5742,"date":"2024-11-14T08:40:49","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T07:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/?post_type=news&p=5742"},"modified":"2025-02-07T11:13:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T10:13:20","slug":"faces-of-the-c2dh-marianna-tavares","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/news\/faces-of-the-c2dh-marianna-tavares\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces of the C\u00b2DH: Marianna Tavares"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A visiting researcher from Brazil, Marianna Tavares recently spent six months at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C\u00b2DH), an interdisciplinary centre at the University of Luxembourg, to expand her knowledge in public history, with the aim of uncovering ways in which her research on the history of education and teacher training in her local community can have an even wider impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In northeastern Brazil lies the state of Rio Grande do Norte, known for its natural beauty, speckled with lagoons and picturesque beaches. Its capital, Natal, is home to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, where Marianna Tavares is a PhD student, researching teaching narratives based on the life history of teachers from a neighbourhood in the state called Cidade da Esperan\u00e7a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This town offers a unique, historical context for Tavares\u2019 research. But it also has a special personal history for her: not only was she born and raised there, but she\u2014and her grandmothers\u2014have taught here themselves. Such a personal connection has afforded Tavares a unique opportunity to exchange with both current and retired teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tavares\u2019 own career includes eight years as a primary school teacher. For three years, she also served as a pedagogical coordinator. During her master\u2019s degree programme in education, Tavares learned more about Brazil\u2019s higher education policies, analysing how they were constructed. Although Brazil universities are free of charge, the higher education policies tend to take shape by offering student aid in the form of housing, grocery expenses, even prescription glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Tavares notes, such assistance is provided on the federal level, but each university has the autonomy to organise this assistance. And every effort can help \u201ckeep these students in the universities so they don\u2019t want to leave and, therefore, can search for a better life for themselves,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n\"Marianna <\/figure>\n\n
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\nUnique backdrop<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When deciding to pursue her PhD in the history of education, Tavares wanted to focus on something close to home. She began conducting interviews with teachers from the Cidade da Esperan\u00e7a neighbourhood, learning more about their career trajectories over 30 years. She selected the period from 1966 to 1996, starting with the year in which the town was founded by the Brazilian government in a bid to provide more affordable housing due to pressures related to internal migration from rural to more urban areas, like Natal.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n\"Marianna <\/figure>\n\n\n

But the backdrop is unique for other reasons as well. Not only had Brazil entered a 21-year-long dictatorship starting in April 1964, but this neighbourhood was also influenced by a U.S. programme called Alliance for Progress. Launched by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the initiative sought to establish economic ties between the U.S. and Latin America; one of its pillars was dedicated to education and literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teachers Tavares interviewed were the first to teach in this neighbourhood. \u201cWe had, in an educational context, a huge problem with illiteracy, with 40% of the Brazilian population unable to read or write,\u201d Tavares explains. The Alliance for Progress created additional pressure, on one hand, but also training and social assistance on the other. \u201cIt\u2019s a very particular context in terms of how teachers influence the culture of a neighbourhood and vice-versa, how the neighbourhood also moulds who they are as teachers,\u201d Tavares notes.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n\u201cBuilding together\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The public history aspect of her work has been particularly important. As she conducted interviews in the same schools where teachers had previously taught, there was engagement with current teachers. \u201cIt was interesting because they came up with questions connected to their jobs today while also acknowledging what those teachers did in the past,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, some current teachers\u2014those working in math, history or science, for instance\u2014vocalised their concerns about the post-pandemic context, which has caused new literacy issues with students, particularly in elementary schools. \u201cThey asked [the retired teachers] how they dealt with it\u2026 in that moment, there was a connection between the past and present, acknowledging these retired teachers as professionals who have knowledge about something specific, and that it\u2019s important to value the work the teacher does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tavares also tried immersing herself into the life of schools, i.e., by attending student events\u2014a methodology focused on \u201cbuilding together\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tavares was interested in the topic of public history, and her research led her to written works by Thomas Cauvin, Associate Professor and Head of the \u2018Public History and Outreach\u2019 Research Group at the C\u00b2DH. Later, at his invitation, she spent 10 months at the C\u00b2DH, where she was able to explore different ways to showcase her research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the outset, she says she was positively surprised how welcomed she felt by her colleagues, be that in the office, where the exchanged ideas, or outside for informal gatherings. \u201cIn Brazil, PhD researchers work from home or go to a library university, which is great, but it\u2019s not the same thing as having an office space,\u201d Tavares says. \u201cThis has made me realise some differences, things we must fight for in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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