The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or Movement of
the Landless Rural Workers (the MST), was formally created at
the Primeiro Encontro de Trabalhadores Sem Terra [First Meeting
of Landless Workers], which took place from January 21-24, 1984,
in Cascavel, in the State of Paraná, in the south of Brazil.
Today, the MST is organized in 22 states and pursues the same
objectives defined at this 1984 Meeting and ratified at the
First National Conference at Curitiba, Paraná, in 1985: to fight
for land, for agrarian reform, and for the building of a just
society, without exploiters and exploited. Since its creation,
the MST has included in its political agenda the fight for
schools and the discussion on what kind of school should be a
part of the life of the Sem Terra family. This article discusses
the pedagogical lessons that we can learn from the historical
experience of the MST. Before introducing some of these,
however, it is important to situate the context that allows us
to think of a social moveme