Blended learning during the COVID-19 health emergency (2020-2021): case study in the East Zone of Manaus - Brazil and Nampula-Mozambique

Abstract

The health emergency (Covid 19, 2020-2021) was an event that affected teaching practice in almost the entire world, including Africa and Brazil. It also highlighted the differences between social strata. It was no different in the east zone of Manaus, one of the poorest regions of the Amazonian capital. It was also like this in Nampula, in the north of Mozambique. In both locations there are precarious schools and students from needy families. In such conditions, teachers had to overcome major challenges brought about by the pandemic, adapting their practices to a new reality, that of Emergency Remote Teaching - ERE, a significant change in the way of teaching. In this context, a reflective analysis was carried out on remote teaching as an evolution in the way of teaching adopted during the pandemic period. The difficulties that teachers had to practice teaching during the adoption of the ERE are discussed, emphasizing the difficulties associated with the particular socioeconomic conditions of the East Zone of Manaus, capital of the State of Amazonas. It is a reflection on the future of teaching in formal education, considering several studies that addressed the new methods, developed, or that gained notoriety from the adoption of the ERE. Furthermore, the question remains: how will society be able to reduce inequalities in education, evidenced and accentuated by the pandemic?