THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SECOND FORUM OF THE OBSERVATORY OF LAITY IN EDUCATION/OLÉ

university extension and methodological innovation

Abstract

The growing presence of the conservative discourse in the current days and the relation with the religious discourse is the basis of argumentation of the extension program Observatory of Secularism on Education- OSE, linked to Federal Fluminense University.  Thus, one of the main objectives of OSE is to demonstrate the strong presence of religion in Brazilian society, which specifically affects the principle of the laicity of the State and directly affects public education. With this purpose, since 2019, an annual Forum is organized by the Observatory. A space for exchange of experiences on the possibilities of building a democratic and secular education. Faced with the emergence of the Covid-19 Pandemic, this space needed to be reconfigured and adapted to specificities that the conjuncture demanded. And this article is about the resizing of this space, about the changes implemented, and about the learning from the elaboration and organization of this new teaching-learning experience. Therefore, the objective is to share the experience of the OSE Forum and the innovations developed during its structuring. To this end, reports, meeting minutes, and other materials related to the Forum's organization were analyzed. This methodology allowed for a more attentive and differentiated look at the Forum's records and pointed to the relevance of spaces in the University that dialogue with the basic school experience and to the growing demand for more debates and reflections about a secular education.