Luiza Ribeiro Moraes is awarded at the 21st UFRGS Teaching Salon

Student Luiza Ribeiro Moraes, from the History Degree course at UFRGS, was awarded in the “Teaching Experiences in Basic Education” category during the 21st UFRGS Teaching Salon, held in October 2025. The recognition was given to the work “Letters to the past: a proposal for teaching History through fables”, developed under the guidance of professor Caroline Pacievitch.

The proposal was born from his experience in the History Teaching Internship – High School, carried out at the Instituto de Educação General Flores da Cunha. Over the course of five classes, Luiza created a set of activities that explored the first years of the 20th century, focusing on imperialist practices, the First World War and its aftermath. Inspired by Saidiya Hartman's concept of critical fabulation, the final assessment proposed that students write letters addressed to historical figures whose trajectories had been studied in class, such as the British poet Vera Brittain, the Malian writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ and the American professor Mary Jones Parrish, survivor of the Tulsa race massacre.

“I presented, at the 21st Teaching Salon, my experience during the History Teaching Internship – High School, held at the Instituto de Educação General Flores da Cunha at the beginning of 2025, guided by Caroline Pacievitch. I titled the experience ‘Letters to the Past: a proposal for teaching History through fables’, centered on an evaluative instrument that proposed the writing of letters to historical figures studied over five classes, encouraging students’ critical storytelling and historical empathy. The biographies portrayed portrayed people affected by the events narrated in classes, bringing the ‘great stories’ closer to the daily lives, dreams and desires of different subjects”, explains the student.

Regarding the importance of the award, Luiza highlights the incentive that the recognition represents for future teachers:

“The award in the ‘Experience in Basic Education’ category was very significant for me, as it strengthened my desire to continue working in the classroom. Today, the challenges for future teachers are many: lack of a good career plan, low funding for education and students who often do not see prospects for the future from their studies. Therefore, receiving this recognition is an encouragement and motivation to continue defending quality public education and the training of thinking young people critical, that value historical knowledge.”

On the eve of completing her Bachelor's degree, Luiza states that she intends to continue working in the field and develop new lesson plans that bring students closer to the topics studied in class, reaffirming her commitment to teaching and public education. The complete list of award-winning works at the UFRGS 2025 Salon can be found at:
ufrgs.br/propesq