7 The Struggle for Democratic Education in the Global South: Lessons from Brazilian Teachers

Thais Gava^a and Jorge Knijnik^b

^aFundação Carlos Chagas (FCC), Brazil

^bSchool of Education, Western Sydney University, Australia

Abstract

This chapter explores democratic education in Brazil through the lens of Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, highlighting its role in fostering critical consciousness and social transformation. It examines the challenges posed by conservative political movements, particularly the Escola Sem Partido (School Without Political Party) movement, which restricts academic freedom and promotes ideological control. Despite Brazil’s 1988 Constitution guaranteeing education as a fundamental right, conflicts surrounding educational goals persist, intensified by attacks on teachers and pedagogical autonomy. This chapter underscores teachers’ central role as defenders of democratic education amid persecution and censorship. It also emphasises Brazil’s cultural diversity as fertile ground for inclusive education. Drawing on Freire’s dialogical methods, educators and civil society resist authoritarian pressures through solidarity, advocacy and innovative practices. The chapter concludes that strengthening democratic education in Brazil requires union engagement, community involvement, international alliances and continuous critical scholarship to counter political repression and defend education as a democratic right.

Keywords

teacher persecution, critical pedagogy, Brazil, education, authoritarianism

Democratic education, understood not merely as a political aspiration but as a mode of life, is characterised by the cultivation of critical thinking and consequent social engagement. This consciousness involves active participation in the world, questioning existing power structures, and pursuing collective liberation (Freire, 1967).

Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, advocated for an educational model that confronts social oppression. His critical pedagogy, grounded in dialogical interaction between educator and learner, fosters transformative processes at both individual and collective levels (Freire, 1987, 1996). Within this framework, education transcends the mere transmission of knowledge, becoming an inherently political act directed towards conscientisation and social change.

The promulgation of Brazil’s 1988 Federal Constitution marked a pivotal moment in recognising education as a fundamental human right intimately linked to dignity and other social rights. This legislation assigned responsibility for education jointly to the state, families and society, catalysing reforms aimed at expanding access, increasing participation and promoting the development of citizens prepared for democratic life and labour (Brasil, 1988).

Notwithstanding these advancements, consensus on educational goals remains elusive. Over the past decade, ongoing symbolic and political conflicts have intensified, particularly around the social role of schools and principles such as secularism and democratisation. These disputes reflect Brazil’s diverse moral and social landscape and have been exacerbated by the ascendance of conservative movements that challenge pedagogical autonomy and criminalise educators (Knijnik, 2022).

This chapter reflects on documented experiences of resistance within Brazilian schools, focusing on the persecution of educators, contentious debates surrounding the Escola Sem Partido (School Without Political Party -ESP) movement, and emergent strategies characterised by hope, solidarity and pedagogical reinvention. It ultimately considers prospective pathways to strengthen democratic, pluralistic and emancipatory education within the Brazilian context and beyond.

The Struggle for Education in Brazil: The School Without Political Party Movement

Democratic education, as articulated by hooks (2003, 2020), involves expanding worldviews and fostering innovative ideas to create potential sites for social transformation. While knowledge originates in diverse social arenas, schools remain the primary institutions for systematising, expanding and disseminating knowledge (Gadotti, 1984).

Freire (1987, 1996, 2001) posits education as a political act serving as a potent tool against social oppressions. Democratic engagement emerges through dialogic processes, wherein diverse perspectives are considered, and collective and ethical decisions are enacted, facilitating the development of autonomous learners who critically interrogate the self and society.

However, over the past 20 years, Brazilian educators have faced growing interference in their classroom practices and restrictions on their freedom of expression. These efforts to tightly control and even penalise teachers’ professional activities reflect a broader international trend, as noted by scholars such as Apple (2013) and Chacko (2018). In neoliberal contexts ‒ such as Brazil ‒ these measures often accompany pushes towards school privatisation, transforming public educational institutions into tools for producing obedient employees rather than fostering independent, critically thinking citizens.

These initiatives gained momentum during the widespread street protests that erupted in major Brazilian cities, calling for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff as she began her second term. In 2015 and 2016, millions of demonstrators rallied against the economic downturn and accusations of corruption within her administration. While many protesters voiced broad conservative demands ‒ including calls to reinstate military rule ‒ some focused their efforts on specific issues, such as public education, using the protests as a platform to strengthen their own organisations and agendas.

These demands had a deep impact on Brazilian schools, which embody historical tensions and paradoxes: on the one hand, schools are seen as promoters of social change; conversely, as reproducers of exclusionary practices and hegemonic values. Advocates of “neutral” education argue for limiting the school’s role to teaching disciplinary content, avoiding debates considered “ideological”.

The School without Political Party (ESP) movement, founded in 2004 by Miguel Nagib, epitomises efforts to impose purported neutrality by eliminating “ideological” debates in classrooms. Inspired by analogous US movements, the ESP deployed legislative and defamatory strategies to curtail academic freedom and stigmatise educators as “indoctrinators” (Ação Educativa, 2022; Espinosa & Queiroz, 2017; Miguel, 2016; Penna, 2018). ESP’s antagonism towards Freirean pedagogy symbolises its broader repudiation of democratic, critical education.

Their strategies included bills restricting academic freedom and campaigns of denunciation, defamation and persecution of teachers (Ação Educativa, 2022). It was therefore unsurprising that ESP identified Freire as the source of Brazil’s educational challenges ‒ a stance made visible when banners denouncing Paulo Freire appeared during the protests that culminated in President Rousseff’s removal.

ESP framed its objectives using a purported theoretical justification rooted in legal guarantees of human rights, even though its actual agenda sought to undermine those very standards. By invoking the concept of the “indoctrinating teacher”, the movement imposed limits on the subjects considered appropriate for classroom discussion. These strategies exposed a deeper debate about the social function of education and the principles of democratic schooling ‒ fundamental to the recognition of education as a right.

Over time, the struggle for so-called neutrality in education provided fertile ground for the consolidation of other conservative movements. What began as dispersed efforts gradually evolved into a coordinated network capable of rapid mobilisation and scale. These actors converged around shared goals, using the rhetoric of neutrality to challenge democratic gains and attack the conception of education as a public and social good (Gava, 2023).

Teachers as Defenders of Democratic Education

It is essential to situate this conflict within Brazil’s long-standing struggle for secular, free and quality public education (Frigotto, 2010). Although initially apolitical in its stance on religion and gender, the ESP movement evolved to embrace ultraconservative ideologies aligned with Pentecostalism, agribusiness interests, pro-gun advocacy and cultural war narratives, including “cultural Marxism” and “gender ideology”. The rise of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in 2019 deepened these dynamics, intensifying attacks on public education and democratic institutions (Ghiraldelli, 2023; Seffner, 2020).

In response, resistance to the persecution of educators has emerged from a wide range of actors ‒ progressive, liberal, humanist, feminist, queer, based on a postcolonial view ‒ and has been used by social movements. These groups have mobilised innovative responses (César & Duarte, 2017). One example is the collective “Teachers Against the ESP”, formed by Brazilian teachers as a network of solidarity and mutual support in the face of widespread reports of persecution and to counter growing authoritarianism.

These efforts respond to an urgent need: to expand and protect spaces for open dialogue and dissent without censorship becoming a de facto consequence. Their strategy focused on creating and strengthening spaces of dissent in the national educational debate. By directly engaging in the discourse around alleged indoctrination, Teachers Against the ESP created opportunities for critical reflection and questioned dominant narratives about the role of teachers. Revisiting Freire’s ideas, particularly his emphasis on dialogue as a social practice, enabled the public confrontation of fundamental issues in Brazilian society ‒ such as the right to quality education (Penna, 2018).

Civil society members and scholars opposing ESP’s control over public education frequently rely ‒ either explicitly or implicitly ‒ on Freirean concepts. Expressions such as “democracy in schools”, “threats to public education”, “dialogical teachers”, “struggle against censorship in schools” and “resisting authoritarianism” illustrate the continued relevance of Freire’s philosophy. His work provides the conceptual framework for equipping educators and activists to confront conservative forces seeking to dismantle public education.

Crucially, the very tradition of critical pedagogy now under siege also provides the tools for resistance. Freire’s notion of critical dialogue ‒ an “anti-method” that rejects rigid structures ‒ empowers educators and school communities to generate context-specific strategies for resisting the authoritarian tactics endorsed by ESP supporters.

In this vein, the “Coalition Against Ultraconservatism in Education” has led public campaigns and developed resources to support threatened educators. Notably, the Manual de Defesa contra a Censura nas Escolas (Ação Educativa, 2022) became a key reference for safeguarding teacher autonomy. Moreover, empirical research mapping teacher persecution has informed legal strategies and advocacy efforts. In 2020, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ‒ the country’s highest judicial authority ‒ ruled that interference in teachers’ professional autonomy was unconstitutional. While this decision sparked an important national debate, it did not prevent the continued proliferation of exclusionary rhetoric and policy initiatives at the municipal and state levels, which persistently undermine the democratic role of public education (Kalil, 2019).

Challenges and Potentialities

In Brazil, the consolidation of democratic education remains contingent on overcoming profound structural obstacles ‒ persistent socio-economic inequality, precarious working conditions and systemic devaluation of the teaching profession ‒ that constrain the cultivation of critical autonomous subjects.

The use of persecution against teachers is by no means a novel strategy (Leite, 2019; Senna & Simão, 2019). Currently, the situation observed in Brazil does not constitute an isolated phenomenon; rather, it exemplifies a broader, international tactic aimed at delegitimising educational institutions as essential spaces for democratic engagement. This strategy undermines not only the democratic potential inherent in schools but also operates as a gateway to the broader discrediting and destabilisation of democratic models themselves. Such dynamics reflect deliberate efforts to constrain the educational sphere’s role as a site of critical thought and active civic participation, thereby threatening the foundational principles of democratic governance (Penna, Aquino & Moura, 2024).

The persecution of educators is part of a systematic process designed to silence, intimidate and control discourse within schools. This phenomenon is evident globally and manifests strongly in authoritarian regimes and conservative political environments seeking to weaken democratic institutions by restricting teachers’ academic freedom and legitimacy, who frequently serve as catalysts for critical awareness and societal transformation (OHCHR, 2025).

Despite these obstacles, schools also represent powerful sites of resistance. The diversity and contradictions within the Brazilian school system create openings for educators to develop democratic, inclusive and pluralistic pedagogical practices. The legacies of Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy continue to inspire educators committed to social transformation through education. These efforts are particularly meaningful in marginalised urban and rural territories, Indigenous and quilombola communities, and among populations excluded from the formal education systems.

Educators, especially those committed to social justice, have been central targets of the “culture war”. The prospect of students filming their teachers ‒ encouraged by the ESP ‒ for future public monitoring and evaluation of their work creates friction in classrooms, undermining relationships among teachers and students, as well as among students themselves. When one party seeks to exert control over another, mutual trust and connection fostered by dialogical engagement are inevitably broken. On the other hand, despite the pressures and criticisms teachers face, they remain the main agents of hope and the reinvention of democratic pedagogies within their schools.

Educational practices grounded in Freire’s pedagogy are inseparable from struggles for social justice. They advocate for a broad, integral and contextualised understanding of education ‒ an education that includes not only knowledge production but also affect, lived experience and community engagement. In these practices, teachers are not seen as passive transmitters of content but as cultural and political agents who build knowledge in dialogue with their students and communities (González & Barcelos, 2021).

In Brazil, thousands of teachers, often working in adverse conditions and under political pressure, have mobilised to defend education as a public good. They have responded with creativity, courage and solidarity to the erosion of democratic values and attacks on academic freedom.

The persistence of democratic education in Brazil relies on several interrelated elements. First, there is a need to strengthen political engagement by educators through union organising, advocacy and grassroots mobilisation. Second, social participation in school governance and curricular decision-making must be deepened to ensure that schools reflect the needs and realities of their communities. Third, international and regional networks of solidarity ‒ particularly in Latin America ‒ can help counter authoritarian educational reforms and support emancipatory alternatives. Finally, research is essential for documenting violations of academic freedom, developing advocacy tools and reimagining educational futures rooted in democratic values.

Thus, the persecution of educators must be understood as a deliberate strategy embedded within a broader political and social agenda aimed at undermining democratic governance by controlling and suppressing education as an emancipatory practice. This reality demands integrated research and public policies that recognise teachers not only as bearers of knowledge but as vital agents for democratic resilience and social justice.

At the same time, democratic education in Brazil remains both under threat and vibrantly alive, sustained by the resistance, creativity and commitment of educators and communities throughout the country. Anchored in the legacy of Paulo Freire, democratic education endures as an instrument of social transformation, fostering critical thinking, political agency and collective hope. Amidst persistent repression, the struggle to defend and advance democratic education is inseparable from the broader fight for justice, equality and democracy in Brazil and beyond.

Author Note

Thais Gava https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2034-6530

Jorge Knijnik https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2578-8909

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thais Gava. Email: t.gava@fcc.org.br.

SDG Alignment

Goal 4: Quality education

Goal 5: Gender equality

Goal 10: Reduced inequalities

Cite This Chapter

Attribution

Research Integrity Statement

This publication is based on an analysis of publicly available information that does not involve identifiable personal data. Ethics approval was not required.

The authors declare no known competing financial or non-financial interests that could have influenced the content of this publication.

References

Leite, V. (2019). “Em defesa das crianças e da família”: Refletindo sobre discursos acionados por atores religiosos “conservadores” em controvérsias públicas envolvendo gênero e sexualidade. Sexualidad, Salud y Sociedad, (32), 119-142. el)

Macedo, E. (2018). Repolitizar o social e tomar de volta a liberdade. Educação em Revista, 34, e212010.

Miguel, L. F. (2016). Da “doutrinação marxista” à “ideologia de gênero” – Escola Sem Partido e as leis da mordaça no parlamento brasileiro.Revista Direito e Práxis, 7(15), 590-621.

OHCHR (2025). UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education and Scholars at Risk. United Nations.

Penna, F. (2018). Construindo estratégias para uma luta pela educação democrática. In F. Penna, F. Queiroz, & G. Frigotto (Orgs.), Educação democrática: antídoto ao Escola sem Partido (Vol. 1, pp. 111-130). LPP; UERJ.

Penna, F., Aquino, R., & Moura, F. (2024). Proposing a definition of persecution of educators based on democratic education. Educação & Sociedade, 45, e274629. https://doi.org/10.1590/ES.274629_eng

Senna, L. F., & Simão, F. P. (2019). A nova-velha discussão sobre o Escola sem Partido. Vértices, 21(2), 170-188.