SELVAGEM AT THE “ALDEAR A EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA AWARDS”:
a love-gathering
05 May 2026
On April 28 and 29, the National Forum on Indigenous School Education, the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), and the Alana Institute presented awards to the 11 educational initiatives selected through the “Aldear a Educação Básica” call for proposals during the event of the same name, held at SESC 24 de Maio in São Paulo. The coordinators of the Selvagem Ways of Knowing Group, Cristine Takuá (also coordinator of the Living Schools) and Veronica Pinheiro (also coordinator of the Selvagem Ways of Knowing Lab – LAS, participated on the award’s evaluation committee and were invited to lead activities on the second day of the meeting. Bringing together teachers from all over Brazil, the event served as a space to strengthen bonds, promote locally rooted pedagogical practices, and highlight the power of Indigenous knowledge in the classroom.
Cristine Takuá speaking at the event.
Veronica Pinheiro leading the “Anti-racist Schools: Ways of Doing” workshop.
The first day was dedicated to celebrate the launch of the call for proposals and the participation of the 11 award-winning teachers who submitted their projects and were invited to share more about their experiences. This was followed by a lecture-performance led by Professor Gersem Baniwa, a leading figure in the field of Indigenous education with over 40 years of experience. Drawing on a discussion of the Law 11.645/2008—which mandates the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous history and culture in all public and private elementary and secondary schools in Brazil— the professor spoke about the formative principles that distinguish indigenous education from indigenous school education. He highlighted the importance of interdisciplinarity and dialogue with the territory in the transmission of knowledge, where indigenous ways of doing things and their timing contrast with the expectations of formal education.
The Professor Gersem Baniwa's lecture-performance, moderated by Mariana Soares.
On the 29th, Cristine Takuá, coordinator of the Living Schools, participated in a panel discussion with the Quilombola educator Luiz Ketu, from Quilombo São Pedro, presenting locally rooted educational experiences in which lived experience is also a method and the community is woven into the curriculum. On that occasion, Cristine Takuá presented the Living Schools, where she works in general coordination, but she also shared her journey with the movement to organize indigenous teacher training programs. Veronica Pinheiro, coordinator of the Selvagem Ways of Knowing Lab (LAS), was invited to close the event with the workshop “Anti-racist schools: ways of doing,” which featured a special appearance by Odé, from the organization Arte de Piar, and proposed a pedagogical experience centered on the body, presence, and orality.
Cristine Takuá, Luiz Ketu and Mariana Soares
Veronica Pinheiro during the “Anti-racist schools: ways of doing” workshop.
In the workshop, teachers were invited not to take any notes, but to experiment with other ways of constructing and preserving memory through songs, rhymes, movements, and collective practices. The activity stemmed from the challenge of thinking of the educational space as a place of living presence, in contrast to the logic of teaching that often distances the body from attention. Inspired by learning practices from indigenous, quilombola, and terreiro communities, the workshop sought to activate the body as a place where worlds and experiences are inscribed.
Participants also engaged in expanded writing and drawing exercises, resulting in a cartography of words and gestures from the gathering. Combined with the singing and music provided by Veronica and Odé, these activities explored the theme of diversity through Brazilian sambas, highlighting the risks of generalization when treating different cultural expressions as homogeneous, and demonstrating how each has its own unique characteristics, even within the same genre.
Inspired by Jorge Aragão’s song “Mutirão de Amor,” Veronica described the experience as the building of a temporary community made up of educators committed to new directions in education. “What I saw in common among these 11 teachers was a collective effort of people who love others and who, rather than just discussing, are building possible futures through their classroom practices,” she said. “More than just engaging with the law, they are people driven by a greater force of existence—a collective effort of love.”
Veronica Pinheiro, Cristine Takuá, Carlos Papá and Martinha Guajajara.
The “Aldear a Educação Básica” event was also highlighted by the emcee Chirley Pankará, from the ANMIGA (National Network of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry), who brought lightness and joy to a field still beset by many challenges, and by a mini-concert by artist and music producer Brisa Flow, featuring songs like “Fique Viva” that address staying true to one’s practices, even in the face of the pitfalls of a colonial system. The words of Auritha Tabajara were also present through “Um cordel para aldear a educação,” a cordel she created about the paths, tributaries, and challenges of “aldear a educação,” illustrated by woodcuts by Lucélia Borges.
Pages from “Um cordel para aldear a educação”.
It is a joy for Selvagem to walk alongside Cristine, Veronica, and the entire community of Escolas Vivas and Grupo Aprendizagens, building educational processes that value the diversity of knowledge, active listening, and exchange. We celebrate the Aldear a Educação Básica Call for Proposals and all those who participated in it, as well as everyone who is working toward an anti-racist and pluralistic education.
“Cada um de nós deve saber se impor
E até lutar em prol do bem-estar geral
Afastar da mente todo mal pensar
Saber se respeitar, se unir pra se encontrar
Por isso, eu vim propor um mutirão de amor
Pra que as barreiras se desfaçam na poeira e seja o fim
O fim do mal pela raiz
Nascendo o bem que eu sempre quis
É o que convém pra gente ser feliz”
(Jorge Aragão)