Introduction

Studies on the relationship between social movements and education demonstrate that this relationship is the path to transforming society where critical subjects awaken and integrate, leading to struggles and mobilizations. It is a complex relationship, and depending on the pedagogical practices carried out and the context in which it is situated, it can be presented as a form of decolonization because, according to the reflections of Catherine ^{Walsh (2013}), this concept proposes resistance to the persistence of colonial models and brands, so it is necessary to march along a path of permanent struggle where “positions, horizons, alternative constructions, projects of resistance, transgression, and creation can be found” (^{Muraca, 2018}, p. 4).

Similarly, Paulo ^{Freire (1987}) states that subjects can reinvent the world as they are decision-makers who can fight for freedom and autonomy, thus breaking with oppression and conditioning them to an education that considers these peculiarities in order to change the course of their history and reality. Social movements must be based on dialogue and consider action and reflection so that they walk side-by-side and complement each other because where there is no effective circularity between action and reflection, according to ^{Muraca (2018}), it is not possible to speak of social movements.

The objective of this article is to present the activities developed ethnographically by the Pedagogía de Frontera movement aimed at teachers and the school community of the municipal network of Foz do Iguaçu, by professors from the Universidad Federal de Integración Latinoamericana (Unila), the Universidad Estatal del Oeste del Paraná (Unioeste) and the Instituto Federal do Paraná (Ifpr), to discuss and rethink pedagogical practices to work with the linguistic and cultural diversity present in schools, and to enable other pedagogies for other subjects (^{Arroyo, 2012}); and contribute to rethinking invisible identities and cultures in border educational spaces.

The argument presented here is based on authors such as ^{Goldar (2008}), ^{Gohn (2011}), and ^{Arroyo (2012}), as it is a social movement developed in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu, in the triple border area between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. This social movement started its activities in 2016 and was born from the social commitment of teachers from Foz do Iguaçu as a form of resistance to the demands─or lack thereof─concerning border schools and the cross-border community of which they are part. This achievement was only possible because the border witnessed the participation of its main educational institutions─public universities (including the Ifpr) and the Municipal Secretariat of Education (Spanish: Secretaría Municipal de Educación, Smed) and teachers of the Municipal Public Network─in the struggle for the same goal: an education based on the peculiar characteristics of the border context, that is, one that respects the linguistic and cultural diversity of the tri-border territory.

This article will provide a theoretical summary of social movements and their relationship with education to justify the activities of the Pedagogía de Frontera movement and the process of mobilization and political coordination with governmental organizations of the municipality in order to make this movement a reality.

Social movements and education: a transformative relationship

When observing social movements in the modern world, as ^{Gohn (2011}) states, it can be seen that they represent the social tensions that are beginning to erupt all over the world, in search of a form of organization that aims at the inclusion of excluded people. Thus, activities in the border education movement also aim to include people who suffer exclusion because of their language and culture, which causes social tensions. Breaking with this social reality is one of the idealized objectives.

Addressing the relationship between social movements and education, ^{Gohn (2008}) clarifies from the outset that education is not limited to school education, carried out in the school itself, but goes beyond, as knowledge is also produced in other spaces. The author also cites the educational nature of the practices in social movements during negotiations, dialogues, or confrontations between members of civil society and the public bodies involved.

It is considered that education occurs in different settings and not only in the classroom since it is a social practice and therefore is made up of different phenomena and processes that collaborate in the development of critical subjects and participants in social decisions.

In this sense, social movements are believed to be sources and agencies of knowledge production because struggles for education involve the struggle for rights and are part of the construction of citizenship. It is also believed that social movements for education encompass issues of school content and gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, human rights, and many others. It must, therefore, be reiterated that the work of the Pedagogía de Frontera movement, which will be briefly presented, strengthens the struggle for equitable education for all border inhabitants.

In the same line, ^{Ribeiro (2002}) agrees with the propositions of Gohn in highlighting the educational character of social movements. These authors discuss education from the same point of view. In their own way, each one maintains that the effective exercise of citizenship and education are processes that occur jointly and simultaneously and, therefore, are inseparable. From an innovative perspective, ^{Ribeiro (2002)} analyzes the active participation of citizens in political decisions and the relationship of social movements in this process. According to the author, the main objective of social movements is the development of social change; she argues that such movements provide a different perspective on education by contributing to the political formation of citizens. For this reason, this article agrees with her assertion that

an expanded conception of education encompasses the training processes that take place in social practices related to the different manifestations of human coexistence that occur in family life, work, leisure, political participation, and school learning (^{Ribeiro, 2002}, p. 115)

The analysis developed by ^{Gindin (2013}) is also relevant when he cites the role of the educational organizations of workers and points to militancy as a form of education. The author analyzes the Brazilian political situation and the dispute over the influence of political parties on trade union organizations. Although this article will not dwell on this debate, it is necessary to say that the work of the Pedagogía de Frontera movement is justified as a social movement because it considers that by fighting for a border pedagogy through teacher training, a person fulfills their role as an educator. Therefore, in agreement with the author, it can be stated that militancy, as a formative aspect, is relevant for anyone working in education. There is a certainty that a role has been played in this way, since it is to be assumed that, far beyond the formal knowledge addressed with teachers, political training and awareness of the importance of uniting as a group to fight for the same ideal resulted in something much greater. The result was the understanding that the political engagement of the educator in social movements is fundamental to the enhancement of their critical-reflective consciousness, as well as in the transformation of their pedagogical practice.

Based on ^{Gohn (2008}), it is possible to indicate some fundamental points through a retrospective approach to the relationship between education and social movements in Brazil. In the second half of the 20^th century, movements like the Paulo Freire method and the Ligas Campesinas appeared in Brazil. In the 1970s, it is possible to point out the relationship of the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) with non-formal education, which also sought to provide political training to their participants, giving them tools for a critical vision of the world. The BEC were the gateway to urban social movements that fought for daycare centers, transportation, health posts, and housing, among others. ^{Gohn (2011)} also indicates that the 1980s were characterized by a strong relationship between education and social movements in the sense that “Movements began to list a new agenda of demands, and also a new political culture was built, altering the public policies in place” (p. 347).

According to the same author, in the 1990s, the socio-political scene was radically transformed. This period deserves a separate chapter, as it changed the national political composition with the end of the military regime and the rise of opposition sectors to positions of power. New actors entered the scene, such as NGOs and other third sector entities─the emergence of other, more institutionalized, forms of popular organization─such as the national forums for the Struggle for Housing, Urban Reform, Popular Participation, and others. Partnerships between organized civil society and public authorities gained strength and were boosted by state policies, such as the experience of the Participatory Budget and the “Bolsa Escola” Program.¹ It is worth mentioning here a particular movement, Ethics in politics, which had decisive historical importance since it contributed directly to the (democratic) removal from office of a president of the republic, an event never before recorded in the country’s history. At that time, it also contributed to the resurgence of the student movement, which now presented a new profile of action, the “painted faces”.

In a society like that of Brazil, marked by machismo, it is essential to point out the historical events that occurred simultaneously: women’s groups were organized, and these groups created networks to raise awareness of their rights and fronts for struggles against discrimination. Moreover, the homosexual movement, which began to organize acts of protest and large annual marches, also gained momentum. Something similar happened with the black, or Afro-descendant, movement, which began to fight for the construction of its identity and also against racial discrimination. The demobilization of many social movements also marked this period, with an emphasis on neoliberal policies, the weakening of trade unions, and the new Law of Guidelines and Bases (Ley de Directrices y Bases, LDB) for education.

According to ^{Gohn (2008}), struggles and movements for education have a historical character and are procedural, and therefore occur inside and outside schools and in other institutional spaces. Struggles for education involve struggles for rights and are part of the construction of citizenship.

Speaking of the demands for education in the (formal) school education movements, the author states that there are several axes in Brazil, especially concerning elementary schools. For the analysis developed in this text, the most relevant for this context is “Pedagogical projects that respect local cultures” (^{Gohn, 2011}, p. 350). This demand refers to the local community organization, the record of the existing experiences of participation in the region, and the construction of poles of identity that singularize the schools according to the local socio-political and social culture, which redefines the concept of participation in the sense of broadening its field and meaning.

In tracing an overview of contemporary Latin American social movements, the author highlights those that have stood out the most. She indicates that sectors of the environmental movement have become politicized in some regions, such as the struggle against the introduction of paper mills in Uruguay or the struggle against open-pit mining projects in the Mendoza region of Argentina, which create serious socio-environmental problems. According to ^{Gohn (2011}), it is also necessary to highlight the resumption of the student movement, especially in Chile, with the Penguin Revolution and occupations in public universities in Brazil, “a struggle to improve the quality of education, against educational reforms, acts of corruption and misuse of public funds” (p. 340).

In Brazil, the black movement achieved the policy of social quotas in universities and even advanced to the University for All Program (Spanish: Programa Universidad para Todos, Prouni)². It should be noted that this progress occurred due to government support through public policies, which gave rise to contradictory results. According to the author, when considered as rights, social demands opened space for citizen participation. However, this movement also caused losses, as government policies established structures of social control, which ended the autonomy of the movements. According to ^{Gohn (2011}), the federal programs Prouni and Reuni (Program to Support Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities)³ respond to social movements regarding the demands historically presented by these groups fighting for their rights, especially when it comes to education.

Analyzing the results of the achievements attained through the work of social movements, ^{Arroyo (2009}) indicates that universities in general are pressured to open specific courses for leaders, activists, and educators linked to land movements, teacher training, indigenous education, rural education, quilombolas, and others. Like ^{Gohn (2011}), the author states that the various movements, especially the black movement, promoted affirmative access and permanence policies in universities. He states that the struggles for basic, professional, and youth and adult education are becoming stronger, as they have increasingly sought to guarantee their right to education and knowledge. It is believed that the struggle for education in the border context must also have its space, with educational, linguistic, and cultural policies that take into account its peculiarities.

^{Arroyo (2009}) points out that the phrase “let us occupy the latifundia of knowledge” has been the political slogan of social movements linked to the struggle for the countryside and the training of teachers for indigenous, rural, and quilombola education.

“Let us occupy the latifundia of knowledge” has been the political cry of the rural movements in the inaugural class of land pedagogy and indigenous, peasant, and quilombola teacher training courses. Universities are under pressure to open specific courses for leaders, activists, and educators. The movements, in the diversity of their activities, have been playing a reconfiguring role in our selective and exclusionary educational systems and their regulatory pedagogies, bringing new shocks to the field of knowledge, production, research, and systematization. (^{Arroyo, 2009}, p. 2)

It is believed that this slogan can also be intoned in the training courses offered by the Pedagogía de Frontera movement. In all the languages in the context, it is time to show the slogan that comes from the triple border.

Pedagogía de Frontera, a social movement

The work of the Pedagogía de Frontera movement is presented here. The present authors concur with ^{Goldar (2009}) when she states the social and political strength of social movements.

This social force and the politics of collective action of the various social movements of the continent still feed on their capacity to make visible and express the temporariness and naturalness of social institutions; embodied in the same bodies, they claim that institutionality is a social construct, so it is provisional and can be modified, and nothing is ever given. Therefore, they trigger social movements in themselves, an intrinsically political dimension in an emancipatory perspective (^{Goldar, 2009}, p. 72)

It is from the statement of the author that the political dimension and emancipatory perspective of the proposed work are recognized since it was born from the social commitment of a group of teachers from Foz do Iguaçu as resistance to the lack of commitment of the government of Michel Temer (2016) to the border schools and the cross-border community that they are part of. The title of social movement is also defended with what ^{Gohn (2011}) says when she states that “Movements make diagnoses about the social reality, build proposals. Acting in networks, they carry out collective actions that act as resistance to exclusion and fight for social inclusion” (p. 336).

Accordingly, it is believed that the interaction of the members of the group in contact with the educational institutions in the schools of Foz do Iguaçu characterizes this work as a social movement since it represents an organized social force for the development of activities that generate sources of creativity and socio-cultural innovations to also respond to social needs. It is important to emphasize that, according to the demolinguistic analysis⁶ conducted by the Municipal Secretariat of Education, in 2017 there were 372 students of other nationalities enrolled in municipal schools, mainly Paraguayans and Argentines, a multiple and unique reality that requires training in the reflection of the context for the didactic-pedagogical reception in these conditions─a social need that awaits the proposal of creative and innovative activities.

^{Gohn (2011}) also states that “Experience is recreated daily, in the adversity of the situations faced”. It was precisely for this reason, in the face of the adversity caused by the end of the PEIF, that the group resized the activities to be carried out after its creation since, without the budgetary commitment previously given, it would be impossible to continue with the program in its entirety.

Before addressing the activities of the group, it is necessary to corroborate the statement made by Gohn that a social movement is not an isolated process but is of a political and social nature, which must seek networks of coordination in daily practice and inquire about the political, economic, and socio-cultural situation. In the planned activities, it was also necessary to seek political coordination in Foz do Iguaçu. Meetings with councilors, the mayor, and the Municipal Secretariat of Education team were essential for the movement to become a reality.

The movement started its activities in 2016 and includes the participation of teachers from various public institutions: Universidad Federal de Integración Latinoamericana (Unila); Universidad Estatal del Oeste del Paraná (Unioeste); Instituto Federal de Paraná (Ifpr); Secretaría Municipal de Educación de Foz de Iguazú (Smed). The initiative was born from a demand of the municipal teachers themselves, who realized the need to seek training to work with the cultural and linguistic diversity present in the municipal schools of Foz do Iguaçu.

Final considerations

Unfortunately, current social policies, in general, continue to be conducted by government officials as benevolent practices that empty the meaning of the public sphere. Civil, political, and social rights are generally patterned on welfare actions without being conceived as part of the exercise and recognition of civil and social rights of citizenship. Thus, acquired rights are transformed into benefits to be granted.

Because of this, it is necessary to look for renewed practices for the construction of a new social reality that seeks to reject the old ways of doing politics and, from a different position, to look for democratic alternatives that build concrete possibilities for the future.

In Pedagogía de Frontera, being a group formed by different institutions seeking the same ideal and fighting against the same oppressive processes and subjects, the characterization of the work carried out as a social movement is defended. An attempt has been made to point out the aspects that corroborate this statement throughout this article. Therefore, it is reaffirmed that, as a group, as a social movement, the objective was to work to form a new reality in the schools of Foz do Iguaçu─a reality in which everyone has the right to be respected, regardless of the language they speak and the culture they express.

Therefore, it is believed that, in the field of border education, the Pedagogía de Frontera group has demonstrated that it is possible and necessary to think of particular spaces for the production of knowledge and pedagogies (^{Arroyo, 2012}).

The movement presented here aims to give a voice to those who seek to occupy the spaces of right in the school community, those who should be guaranteed the right to speak their language and manifest their culture without suffering any prejudice or exclusion, especially when it comes to educational contexts. The action consists of raising awareness and clarifying that using different languages in different contexts is a right of any citizen and not a benefit granted by some and achieved by others.

Therefore, this article agrees with ^{Goldar (2008}) when she speaks of educational practices saying that “In this perspective, we are undoubtedly public educators who aim for our educational practices to converge in emancipatory aspects capable of effectively advancing in the transformations that make it possible to achieve more just and humane societies” (p. 70).

For social movements to be successful, many challenges must be faced. Firstly, it is necessary to end politics based on clientelism and corruption and, secondly, to strengthen respect for the rights and duties of all people. The authors of this article, therefore, agree with ^{Gohn (2011}) when she states that

We understand that for this, ethical commitment and social participation are fundamental, as well as the political will of the democratic forces, organized for the construction of a society of a public space different from the neoliberal model, built on exclusions and injustices (p. 356).

Social movements are of utmost importance for the formation of a democratic society when it comes to enabling the insertion of more and more people into the society of rights. Thus, ^{Gohn (2011}), using the considerations of the French sociologist Touraine, states that “movements are the heart, the pulse of society”. The author also adds that social movements “express energies of resistance to the old that oppresses or the construction of the new that liberates” (p. 336). In this perspective, it is believed that, as a group, the pulse of the border has been reached, resisting the collapse of teacher training from an intercultural perspective, typical of education on the border (since the PEIF was interrupted) while constructing new ways to ensure such training, by joining forces, channeling energies previously dispersed in individual actions, developing purposeful practices, and seeking the construction of collective actions to resist exclusion and fight for social inclusion.

When thinking about the scope of a program like the PEIF it stands out that it requires a mutual commitment of many public and political entities and the community. However, to achieve the broad objectives that have been put in place for a while, it is necessary to go further. Public investments are needed to enable its development, and the current government does not seem to prioritize border education. However, for the movement, this priority is reiterated every day in the classroom. Therefore, the aim still is to resist and fight for intercultural education.

From the intercultural practices mediated with teachers, a significant change in positioning is expected through understanding the need to approach differences no longer as something negative that generates tensions and conflicts, but as something enriching, where the “other” is significant and above all valued. By being mediators in the teaching-learning process, demonstrating people skills, and establishing a climate of trust and respect, teachers also begin to value and stimulate their students, which contributes to breaking down prejudices and the linguistic and cultural stigmatization that permeates the triple border area, thus collaborating to build a more democratic and humane society. This is an extremely important attitude in this context since, as ^{Bortoni-Ricardo and Dettoni (2003}) state, ignoring linguistic and cultural diversity is a way of contributing to deepening and perpetuating social differences.

The Pedagogía de Frontera social movement and its activities are not enough to make schools inclusive and intercultural, but it is one of the paths that can lead to achieving these ideals. This certainty gives the necessary energy to continue moving on. It also reinforces the conviction that teacher training in a perspective of intercultural education in a border context is a political and pedagogical commitment.