Interview with Brazilian researchers and professors Pâmella Passos, Evelyn Morgan and Amanda Mendonça

Logo del proyecto “Los educadorxs son defensorxs”

In the past few years, there has been a rise in Brazil in the number of complaints made by educators and researchers experiencing attacks and intimidations of all kinds because of their professional activities. What are the characteristics of those attacks, their causes and motivations?

First of all, we would like to thank you for the opportunity of this interview. We believe that the establishment of a network of academics under threat is a crucial initiative to give visibility to the attacks against educators and to provide them with the possibility to contact others and create a network of associations.

It is worth mentioning that the rise in the persecution of educators and professors in Brazil is concomitant with the advance of conservative political ideologies in the country, some of whose representatives hold key positions in current Brazilian politics, especially in the legislative and executive spheres at their various levels (municipal, state and federal). As to the characteristics of those attacks, we highlight the great power of the media and social networks in the dissemination and reproduction of harassment and accusations against educators and researchers who, in the exercise of their work, are frequently labelled as “indoctrinators.” In order to understand the persecution that we are referring to, we must note that at stake here is a specific conception of education and research. We believe that, as stated by educator Paulo Freire, there is no such thing as neutral education or teaching. In his famous lesson, Freire argues that it is not sufficient to read the phrase “Eva saw the grape” mechanically. It is essential to understand what is Eva’s position in the social context. For this reason, we believe that the attacks and accusations intended to smear public education (including universities, institutes and schools) are driven by the interests of a conservative moral agenda, along with strong economic objectives that seek to favour and prioritize the private sector. The mechanism used by these conservative sectors is to discredit the production of critical social knowledge and propose instead a conception of education based on a type of formation that is presented as neutral or objective, devoid of any reflection, and which simply tends to reproduce contents.

Educators and researchers that are committed to education and fight against social inequalities are especially targeted for persecution. Their classes and study materials are filmed and disseminated without their prior consent and presented in a decontextualised manner. Exposure in social networks has become a mechanism of persecution that can have serious consequences for those suffering it. Exposure in social networks of excerpts of classes and lectures, photographs of exams and exercises done within the framework of a class, in a decontextualised manner, has adversely affected education workers both mentally and emotionally. This high exposure and defamation of educators has in some cases even resulted in their dismissal. Another consequence has been the case of some parents that, when they find out the contents of the classes, refuse to let their children learn about certain topics included in the school curriculum, such as the Brazilian dictatorship. In these cases, there is even an extrajudicial notice model available, prepared and disseminated by the Non-partisan School Movement (MESP). An extrajudicial notice is a letter or document drafted by this movement, which is available on their website for parents and carers to fill in, print out and deliver to educators as a warning. In addition, this movement encourages the unauthorised filming of the school space and of the education workers involved.

As part of the project “Educators are defenders,” we have recently carried out research into the persecution of educators in Brazil. This research, which covered the period from 1 January 2018 to 21 May 2021, consisted of an online search of news and reports containing keywords denoting persecutions and harassment, such as “persecution,” “indoctrination,” “non-partisan school.” With this online enquiry, we first did a general online search to analyse how and how often news and reports were posted containing these keywords that indicate a persecution of educators. After that, we carried out a more specific search on the websites of educators’ trade unions and officials across the country, as well as in social network profiles related to the topic of our research. We found that, as far as 2021 goes, there has been a rise in the persecution of educators.

Another important characteristic that is worth highlighting is the different impacts that this persecution has on the various professional segments of education. University professors and researchers usually earn higher wages and have the possibility of travelling on academic exchanges and/or grants. The situation is quite different in basic education. According to the 2020 census, there are 2,189,005 basic education teachers in Brazil. Out of this universe, 593,000 work in pre-primary education, and 96.4% of them are women. There are 1,378,812 primary school teachers, with 88.1% of them being women, and 505,782 secondary school professors, 57.8% of whom are women. That is, most basic education teachers in Brazil are women and they are the main targets of these attacks and persecutions. This violence is often invisibilised.

In your opinion, what are the consequences of this context of hostilities and restrictions, both for those directly affected and for the Brazilian society?

As a direct consequence of this context, a process of loss of academic freedom is taking place with a direct impact on the guarantee of a democratic rights-based education. Such impact not only undermines the lives of those educators directly involved and of their families, but also their persecution has a direct impact on the quality of education. This is a loss to society as a whole, as the exercise of critical institutional education is at risk. Fear of harassment has deterred many professionals from adequately addressing some of the curriculum topics, especially if they work in private institutions, as they are more likely to lose their jobs. This also has a negative impact on these generations that receive a censored education.

You are carrying out the research project “Educators are defenders.” Can you tell us how the project was born and what it consists of?

The Technology, Education and Culture Research Group (GPTEC) in which we work at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro has conducted in the past individual research projects to study the impact of the conservative advance on Brazilian education. In this respect, we have noted that this conservative movement is leading to a process of weakening democracy, as well as to the dismantling of quality public education in the country. In turn, against the background of growing attacks to human rights defenders in the country, three researchers of our research group have taken part, at various points in time, in support and shelter programmes due to situations of insecurity related to their job. On the basis of these specific experiences, we decided to assess the possibility of establishing a shelter programme in Brazil for educators at risk. In the understanding that educators are also human rights defenders and that, as such, they are facing persecutions, we have launched the project “Educators are human rights defenders: a feasibility study for the establishment of a shelter programme at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro.” The project is funded by Protect Defenders, a European Union mechanism that protects defenders at risk worldwide (further information on the Protect Defenders programme is available here). Through the analysis of publicly available data, interviews with other shelter programmes and the implementation of online questionnaires, we seek to assess the demand for establishing a shelter programme in Brazil for educators at risk. In addition, the feasibility study aims to identify the financial and human resources needed to establish the programme, and to determine whether the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro is in a condition to do so.

What are the main challenges to finding support strategies for educators and researchers at risk in Brazil?

The conservative context the country is currently experiencing, with politicians submitting bills against academic freedom, tacitly authorises and encourages actions of coercion and intimidation against educators in institutions and classrooms. It is not sufficient to say that there is academic freedom. Much more information and support measures are required for those subjected to censorship, attacks and/or threats. For example, it would be important for educators to know that an extrajudicial communication (such as the one previously mentioned) has no value at all. In addition, educators should be in contact with educators’ groups and networks where they can seek support and information about the legislation that protects them. A major challenge in our research study is to give visibility to the persecution of educators in Brazil nowadays, and to commit society as a whole and international solidarity to putting an end to this violence. The challenge is to have educators see themselves as human rights defenders and make them aware of even the slightest violations of their rights, which in many cases occur on a daily basis.