Teacher education in the political practice of the MST: the construction of the proud consciousness

Abstract

This article proposes a discussion about teachers' experience at settlement schools organized by the MST - Brazilian Landless Workers Movement in western Santa Catarina. Following a qualitative methodology the study allowed the understanding of significant aspects of the cultural universe of the agents involved, highlighting the relationships built in family life, in the exercise of the profession, and in the political participation in the Movement. The analysis of the actions carried out by the teachers in various spheres reveals how they become agents of their own experience. Joining the education proposals of the MST allows in these teachers the manifestation of an identity that strengthens the everyday experience of being a teacher, promoting the development of a proud consciousness of the teaching practice. The experience is fed back to the school and to other educational opportunities promoted by the MST, to the contact with the group of teachers, to the studies they carry out, and to the exchanges with students and their families. That allows teachers to set priorities, adding significant elements to the contents seen at school. The prospect is then revealed for the transmission at school of a dimension of knowledge enhanced by the political action engendered in collective practices. This involvement results in differentiated experiences with benefit to the actions developed at school and in the Movement. Thus, these teachers re-establish the role of the school in the rural areas, creating new commitments that transform their teaching activity, broadening their learning and the relationships of solidarity present in the countryside culture.