The rise of the School Without Party movement and the denunciations against the “indoctrinating teachers” in Brazil

Abstract

The rise of right-wing populism in several countries has directly impacted the educational field, especially teaching work. This phenomenon is linked to what has been called the post-truth era, in which there is a profound questioning about the pedagogical autonomy of teachers and their ability to arbitrate the truth. In this article, we analyze the performance of the Escola sem Partido - ESP (School Without Party) movement in Brazil through its denunciations against the "indoctrinating teachers." It is concluded that ESP seeks to resize the limits of teaching work, moving it from the debate of the academic and scientific community to the moral values of the students'students' families, a movement that gained strength in the process of political polarization experienced in Brazil in recent years, and with the election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018. It stands out how in the context of post-truth ESP elaborates a false equivalence between the scientific knowledge accumulated in certain fields and the moral values elaborated from a conservative agenda.