Risalva Freitas do Amaral: uma presença ausente – o apagamento institucional como conteúdo no ensino de história local

Abstract

This research investigates the institutional erasure of the trajectory of teacher Risalva Freitas do Amaral, taking her as a case study to understand its implications for the teaching of local History. It is based on the observation that, although women played a central role in the consolidation of the educational system in the context of the former Federal Territory of Amapá, their trajectories were scarcely recorded in institutional documents and in the historical narratives that structure History teaching. The trajectories of these women are poorly visible and frequently erased in institutional records, which has limited access to sources about their experiences, hindered the identification of documents, and prevented them from being recognized as historical subjects, as well as from having their histories incorporated into the teaching of education in Amapá. In this sense, the study seeks to analyze how this erasure is historically constituted and how it can be mobilized as content in teaching, contributing to the expansion of subjects and historical narratives within the school environment. The research is grounded in discussions from the historiography of History teaching, women’s history, gender studies, and History Education, engaging with authors who problematize the production of historical knowledge, the curriculum, and the formation of historical consciousness. It is also articulated with Law No. 14,986/2024, understood as a normative framework that challenges traditional forms of organizing History teaching by proposing the inclusion of women's experiences and perspectives in basic education curricula. From a methodological standpoint, this is a qualitative study of a historical and documentary nature, structured as a case study. The investigation mobilizes different sets of sources researched at the State Department of Education of Amapá (SEED), through the Center for School Inspection and Organization (NIOE), at the Union of Public Education Workers of the State of Amapá (SINSEPEAP), at the Elcy Lacerda Public Library, and in state schools named after female teachers. Historical periodicals were also analyzed, especially the newspapers Amapá and A Voz Católica, in addition to institutional records, administrative reports, and writings attributed to teacher Risalva Freitas do Amaral. The scarcity, fragmentation, and material precariousness of these sources are understood not only as empirical limitations but as evidence of the institutional erasure itself. The results reveal a mismatch between the centrality of female teachers’ roles in organizing school practices and their low visibility in institutional records, showing that this erasure does not stem from the absence of women’s participation, but from the criteria that guide the production and legitimation of historical records. As an educational product, the research presents a didactic sequence aimed at secondary education, based on the analysis of sources and on the problematization of institutional erasure as a teaching content. The proposal seeks to contribute to the formation of a critical historical consciousness, broadening the references for understanding the past and promoting the recognition of women as historical subjects in the history of education in Amapá.