A diversidade cultural na aula de português: um percurso para a descoberta de si e do outro

Today’s school has an undeniable importance in promoting a democratic education capable of providing every student with the same opportunities and promoting social justice (Freire, 1972). Nevertheless, and considering the plurality of ages, genders, social-economic backgrounds, religions, cognitive and learning profiles… (Abdallah-Pretceille, 2003), which differentiates the educational actors, the path towards equality demands pedagogic and didactic answers that must consider diversity as a plus and not as a disadvantage. Bearing this in mind, and assuming that the school, in general, and the language education, in particular, can’t be indifferent to the individual characteristics of its students, it is fundamental that the learning process is built upon its students’ motivations, interests and needs, as to promote their autonomy (Bizarro, 2008) and identity construction but it also must be aware of the fact that only with directed and demanding teaching-learning processes can the society we belong to be able to develop. We support that learning a language is emphasizing the linguistically, but also culturally, explicit, surpassing parceled out and stereotyped ways of thinking, promoting meetings with alterity (Abdallah-Pretceile, 1992), in order to one’s identity enrichment. Starting with these assumptions, we’ll present the results of writing workshop work, made by students of a FEC (Formation and Education Course), belonging to the Portuguese subject, showing that Cultural Diversity can/must be worked on, aiming at the meeting between the Other and the Self.