Perspective Chapter: Activism for Social Justice – Moving Beyond Counter-Hegemonic Resistance

Abstract

This study argues that current educational frameworks and public policies fail to meet the needs of marginalized minorities. The study suggests alternative notions of education, knowledge, and educational relationships beyond the current Eurocentric educational model and formal educational institutions. This study is based on the Theory of Resistance and uses a qualitative methodology, counter-narratives method, and a phenomenological perspective to analyze the data. The participants in the study are activists and transformative intellectuals who work toward helping victims of forced disappearances. The key findings reveal that the school system fails to recognize or address internal or contextual violence and how it fails to support the victims or their families, reinforcing the existing hegemonic power structures. This chapter emphasizes the need for institutional educational responses that involve taking a committed stance toward human rights education and implementing strategies that promote peace and social justice. The introduction provides a justification for the topic, background studies, and theoretical perspective. The second section describes the methodology, the method used, and the research subjects. The third section presents the results, and finally, the conclusions and discussion are provided.

1. Introduction

The following report is an update on a broader research project. The main objective of the study is to comprehensively analyze the non-hegemonic narratives (counter-narratives) of activists in limited educational contexts to demonstrate forms of resistance against the school tradition that reproduces social injustice. The section consists of two parts. Firstly, it develops the theoretical construction that serves as the basis for the research, including a classification of counter-hegemonic resistance. Secondly, it briefly describes the traditional and most recent authors on this subject.

The topic you mentioned relates to the study of social justice and education, specifically the examination of oppression, discrimination, and resistance within educational institutions. Several authors have contributed to this field and have written extensively on these topics. One prominent author in this area is bell hooks, an American author, feminist, and social activist, who explores the intersection of race, gender, and class in education and highlights the importance of addressing these issues for achieving social justice. Another influential author is Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher, who emphasizes the need for transformative education that empowers marginalized groups and challenges oppressive systems. Giroux’s work emphasizes the role of education in shaping social identities and power dynamics. He argues for a transformative and critical approach to education that challenges dominant ideologies and promotes social justice. Giroux’s writings often explore the intersections of education, politics, and culture, examining how they influence each other and shape society. These are just a couple of notable authors in the field, and many more scholars and activists have contributed to the study of social justice in education [1, 2].

According to the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), in the last 5 years, 99 articles have been published on counter-hegemony, education, and social justice. Seventy percent of these articles deal with issues of educational equity, race, politics, and racism, most at the postsecondary and higher education level. Most of the articles were published in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Sweden. Osterman and Rezende are the authors who present two of the most relevant articles, both from Brazil. In both articles, they use critical theory to understand counter-hegemonic movements in the face of tensions between knowledge and social justice.

The chapter explores the incorporation of curricular theories into science education scholarship. It introduces core concepts from curricular frameworks and investigates their intersection with science education. Focusing on post-critical curricular perspectives, it analyzes the discursive dynamics, shaping meaning in science education. The study delves into hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourses within Brazilian and international contexts, revealing tensions between traditional and critical viewpoints. Emerging discourses advocating for social justice and democratic equality present a dilemma: if treated prescriptively, they risk standardizing education, undermining its fundamental principles and societal aspirations [3].

The chapter addresses Brazil’s sociohistorical context. It advocates for a counter-hegemonic approach rooted in Global South epistemologies, particularly inspired by de Santos’ concept of “ecology of knowledge” as essential for global social justice. The chapter proposes a science education framework that prioritizes environmental preservation, critiques capitalist systems, and values knowledge from the Global South [4]. Overall, educational social justice needs further studies that reveal the tensions in education and the contexts in which it develops.

In this framework, the objectives and research questions emerge: (1) the aim is to study the counter-narratives of education activists and how they resist traditional schooling practices. This study aims to provide a peaceful and transformative vision of education from the perspective of these activists; (2) the objective is to find ways to overcome the school’s monopoly on education and ensure that everyone has the right to an inclusive and fair education, even outside of traditional educational institutions; (3) lastly, we propose creating spaces for social and educational transformation.

The research questions are (1) What do the counter-narratives of activists say about education and their forms of resistance to the school tradition? (2) How can the monopoly pretension of the school be broken from outside the institutionalized educational processes? (3) What spaces with and from the oppressed and exploited can be proposed?

To conduct research in this field, it is necessary to perform a thorough theoretical review that aids in comprehending the problem and analyzing the findings.

1.1 Critical theory

In this part of the report, the concepts and categories used for the research are developed. The study is grounded in the critical theory of culture and resistance, which draws upon the works of various critical theorists and philosophers. Scholars such as Gramsci, Adorno, Horkheimer, Freire, the Frankfurt School, Gramsci, and Foucault have all contributed to this theoretical framework. Henry Giroux has utilized the theories of these authors to analyze the intersections of education and culture within contemporary society. He has developed a critical theory that aims to foster social transformation.

Critical Theory posits that there exists a profound connection between knowledge, power, and domination. Its purpose is to comprehend how marginalized and oppressed groups confront inequities, and exclusion, and defend themselves against repressive violence. This understanding recognizes defense and resistance as integral to struggles for marginalized voices, human rights, justice, freedom, and peace. However, it is important to note that these groups, striving for social transformation, often face persecution from dominant hegemonic sectors.

The study aims to analyze and question the current power structures and social inequalities within educational institutions and society by engaging with critical theory and its associated thinkers. It strives to promote the voices and experiences of marginalized groups while striving for a more fair and just future.

The theorists believed in studying society systematically with a comprehensive approach, with a conscious commitment toward transformation. They aimed to understand social problems critically and make changes that benefit oppressed groups [5, 6]. Italian neo-Marxism studied the role of culture and education in the reproduction of power relations. They formulated the theory of hegemony, which emphasizes how the ruling class exercises its power not just through force but also through persuasion and achieving consensus from the masses they dominate. This helps sustain the power and continuity of the hegemonic system.

According to these theoretical approaches, a key step is to recognize the oppression and the dominant narratives that sustain it and to confront them with narratives that question them. They use the concept of “transformative resistance” to analyze the ways of denouncing and resisting social oppression and acting for an interest in social justice [7]. “It is about life, not passive and indirect consensus, but active and direct; the participation, therefore, of individuals, even if this produces an appearance of disintegration and tumult [8].”

This theory proposes that those who are marginalized or excluded—the subaltern class—must create their own culture and ideology. By doing so, they can develop an opposing force that can challenge the dominant class’s control over society. This would lead to a more equitable and just society. To achieve this change, the dominant class’s power structures must be disrupted and replaced with a new emerging block to establish a new hegemony [9].

These processes are shaped by the specific historical culture [2] in which they occur, and this includes collective actions as well. In such situations, practices are influenced by the prevailing social conditions and are also shaped by the unique historical identity of the collective. In this context, the role of organic intellectuals or educational agents is crucial. They are responsible for overseeing the theoretical and ideological construction that legitimizes the dominant group or sometimes leads to the practice of resistance. This is why it is a key concept in research.

The educational practices serve either to maintain a social structure or to transform it through dissent of organic or transformational intellectuals, who are “the educational agents, not as the one who teaches in the school but as a representative of the critical conscience of the society that assumes the role of mediator between the general society and the educational community [9].”

It implies a shift in the individual’s mindset, where they acknowledge the need to look beyond the conflicts, inconsistencies, and prevalent ideology, as well as the opposing expressions and efforts of defiance. Education, viewed from this standpoint, is a constantly evolving process that involves confronting challenges and striving to transform oppressive systems. To bring about such transformations, one must comprehend the mechanisms through which power relations are established and upheld within these contexts. Resistance “offers a new theoretical impulse to understand the complex forms under which subordinate groups experience their educational failure and directs their attention toward new ways of understanding and restructuring the modes of critical pedagogy [2].”

Henry Giroux is an American cultural critic and a key contributor to the development of critical pedagogy. He has advanced the Theory of Resistance, which forms a significant foundation of his work. While some of his writings resemble neo-Marxist analyses and critiques, he has developed a unique critical perspective that emphasizes the interconnectedness of education, culture, politics, and society [1, 2, 7]. “His proposal for critical pedagogy is particularly significant [10, 11].” His analysis has inspired many approaches in Epistemologies of the South [12].

He has expressed disapproval of the educational system for playing a role in perpetuating social inequalities and for its reliance on a neoliberal ideology that fosters competition and exclusion. He has also studied the influence of popular culture and the media on the development of identity and subjectivity. As a result, he advocates for a critical pedagogy that encourages reflection, critical thinking, and transformative action.

He believes that education by transformative intellectuals is critical for social transformation, as it provides a space for the construction of a democratic and just society through promoting dialog and reflection. By questioning and transforming reality toward a more equitable society, students are empowered to make a positive impact [2].

The concept of resistance can be applied to the field of education to analyze the culture of schools, including the educational knowledge, values, and interactions that take place within them. This analysis can reveal how certain contents are selected and organized into a particular structure and hierarchy within the dominant curriculum, which can marginalize the knowledge produced by school communities and perpetuate the social effects of colonization and domination [13]. The hidden curriculum can be analyzed critically using a dialectical approach. This approach can reveal how the school’s separation from parents, the gender and class dynamics associated with the production and distribution of knowledge, and the distant relationships between school administrators, teachers, and families are all promoted.

The Epistemologies of the South [12] are concerned with democracy and human rights in the Latin American context. They draw inspiration from Critical Culture [7, 8] to examine the prevalence of Eurocentric thought, and to highlight the subaltern groups that resist capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy.

This perspective values the diversity of knowledge and original wisdom that have been overlooked by the Western model of knowledge. It aims to empower oppressed social groups to represent and transform the world according to their aspirations. To achieve this, it offers conceptual tools such as the abyssal line, the sociology of absences and emergencies, the ecology of knowledge, the intercultural translation, and the craftsmanship of practices.

Of particular interest for this work are the ecology of knowledge and the intercultural translation. These describe the processes to expand the horizon of possibilities and intelligibilities of the future, and to establish new relationships between diverse types of knowledge. “They focus on the cognitive processes of the meaning, the justification, and the orientation in the struggle waged by those who resist and rebel against oppression. The question of validity arises from this strong presence [14].” It is possible to bring together knowledge generated in different areas to create languages.

Based on certain ideas, it has been demonstrated that there are various levels of liberation or emancipation for collectives, groups, or countries. To research this topic, a classification system for different forms of resistance has been proposed, [15] which are linked with counter-hegemony. These can be examined based on three criteria: (1) the degree to which certain practices are assimilated or tolerated by the hegemonic model; (2) the degree of articulation between the challenges at the symbolic level and the challenges to the production and distribution of material resources; and (3) if there is a process of articulation between different practices that can generate a collective subject capable of making claims to achieve political power [15, 16]. From these criteria, four parameters have been derived that can be used to organize and interpret the corpus formed through counter-narratives (Table 1).

Pre-resistance (emerging reactive resistance)	The aim is to develop personal resilience in the face of oppressive, discriminatory, or exclusionary exercise of power. These are individual or disorganized practices of resistance that can result in counter-productive or adaptive resistance. However, there is no evidence of any material, symbolic, or political changes in the dominant hegemonic system.
First parameter (material dimension)	There are specific practices of collective resistance that challenge the distribution of power and resources. These practices emerge from the leadership of an organic or transformational intellectual and can either be incorporated or tolerated by the hegemonic model. The degree or modes of manipulation of the hegemonic system to the collectives are not a closed system. Resistance practices alleviate the situation of the excluded collectives. These practices of resistance can serve as a basis for the counter-hegemonic struggle in the future, either alone or articulated with others. They come to strengthen the material structure of domination.
Second parameter (symbolic dimension)	These resistance practices encompass patterns of symbolic recognition of values, cultural norms, and preferential recognition. They aim to challenge and modify the dominant cultural network of meaning. Additionally, they serve to acknowledge and recognize previously excluded groups. These practices arise from the leadership of an organic or transformational intellectual. However, it is important to note that these resistance practices can only challenge the symbolic dimension without questioning the existing patterns of distribution and production of material resources. Despite this limitation, there may be actions that could alleviate the situation of tension in the resistance.
Third parameter (political practice) material production + symbolic and practical dimension	Counter-hegemonic resistance, also known as transformative resistance, goes beyond individual or disorganized forms of resistance. Instead, it involves political articulation of local resistance practices that contribute to redefining the opposition between “us” and “them.” These practices form a new historical block that includes excluded groups and marginalized members of the hegemonic block, referred to as “traditional intellectuals.” Such resistance is led by an organic or transformational intellectual, and it succeeds in improving the living situation of some sectors.

Table 1.

Parameters to establish the degrees or levels of hegemonic resistance.

Source: [12, 15, 17].

Table 1 is crucial for analyzing and interpreting the activist’s narrative as a research subject. It enables establishing the segmentation in the interview corpus and the network of its significance to achieve the following results.

Different models of relations are being sought with more egalitarian power systems, allowing them to organize society according to their conditions, which will eventually be challenged in turn. According to the analysis, counter-hegemonic resistance groups have demanded work ahead. The narratives show that there is an alternative that is not only symbolic but practical. It is a resistance against the hegemonic conditions of oppression and violence. These counter-hegemonic alternatives present internal tensions, contradictions, and reproduction.

2. Methodology and the narrative method

This section explains the research method used and its relationship to the theoretical approach. Additionally, it discusses the epistemological foundations and argues for the reliability of the decisions and results obtained [18].

Research in Social Justice has a long history of exploring and fighting against the invisibility of vulnerable groups. This involves being aware of societal issues and working toward a more equitable and just social order. The research aims to maintain a political and ethical commitment that protects the most disadvantaged and avoids collaborating with injustices.

Unlike the abstract treatment of Social Justice, this research proposes a more open conception that considers improvements in education, society, and personal and collective relationships. It is related to the denunciation of concrete injustices faced by groups such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, criminality, violence, and forced disappearances. The research strives to use an epistemological and methodological approach that is consistent with education as a means for Social Justice.

This research follows the critical paradigm and is based on the Critical Theory of knowledge. This theory suggests that reflection and social emancipation are necessary responses to hegemonies and forms of domination. It also emphasizes the importance of consciousness in achieving social justice and the common good. The research proposes a concept of science that involves producing social knowledge to generate actions that contribute to the transformation and emancipation of individuals and their communities. This, in turn, enhances their reflection and decision-making abilities concerning the context in which they live.

Research is a space where people can participate, take social responsibility, and commit to meeting the needs and expectations of their communities. Its goal is to promote transformation that frees people from oppression and to make decisions that benefit everyone. The knowledge generated through research is thought about and then put into action by the community, leading to the development of critical thinking. In this way, we can use discussion to reach a shared understanding of the realities of the situation and direct our efforts toward creating a concrete plan for emancipation and decision-making based on self-reflection and critical thinking.

In the field of education, these ideas involve adopting global and dialectical views of the realities that intersect in educational cultures and accepting democratic and participatory approaches when constructing knowledge. This is a quest for knowledge that aims to develop the ability to change the structures of domination—a methodological challenge for researchers.

Critical Research is a transdisciplinary approach to investigating social life, revealing the beliefs of the world and how they operate. Different scientific communities can apply it. “A critical social theory frames its research program and its conceptual framework with an eye to the aims and activities of those oppositional social movements with which it has a partisan, tough critical identification. The questions it asks and the models it designs are informed by that identification and interest [19].”

Dialectics is a method of creating knowledge by analyzing reality and its mutual implications both subjectively and objectively. It acknowledges contradictions as a part of social nature and has various perspectives. In this work, we are interested in critical dialectics, which was developed in the Frankfurt School. It transforms Hegelian dialectics into one based on dialectical materialism [5].

Critical theory uses dialectics as a tool to analyze power relations in society and create a plan for social transformation. This is based on the idea that change comes from the class struggle. The subaltern class must create their own culture and ideology to challenge the hegemony of the dominant class and build a more just society.

In the Frankfurt School, dialectics is used to understand and transform society through criticism. Cultural and social dynamics, such as cultural identity, globalization, resistance, and social change, are analyzed using dialectics. Critical reflection is crucial for people’s liberation and social transformation.

Negative dialectics, on the other hand, rejects the “official” representation of reality. It uses principles of negativity, contradiction, and mediation to form critical reflection [5].

The theory of Resistance [7] adopts an orientation called critical dialectics, which aims to enable social transformation. Critical dialectical thinking highlights the potency of human knowledge and activity as a tool for shaping social reality. It is a form of criticism that asserts the existence of a link between knowledge, power, and domination, and emphasizes the importance of social change as the main goal.

Dialectical thinking is used to challenge common sense assumptions and beliefs to demonstrate that internal contradictions can lead to a quality change [20]. Its purpose is to break down self-certainty and self-satisfaction to undermine confidence in the power of facts and language. Dialectics is focused on critiquing power relations and working toward a more just and democratic society.

Critical dialectics is a theory that emphasizes the important link between theory and practice. It asserts that theory is not a separate entity from practice but rather it is founded on the social reality. In the same way that opposites interact, theory and practice also influence each other. The contradictions and social tensions, especially in power relations, can be a catalyst for change and social transformation. Therefore, contemporary dialectics aims to address these contradictions to achieve a deeper comprehension of social reality [2]. Overcoming the crises that arise from the contradictions in the education process is the key to transforming teaching practices and achieving a renewed approach to education. The principles of critical epistemology that underpin this research are evident throughout the entire process, not just in the final reports or written documents.

Qualitative research methods are more suitable for the critical epistemological perspective because they align better with the values of community collaboration and participation, as opposed to quantitative methods which can be exclusive and oppressive. Qualitative methods are also inclusive of diverse cultures and do not discriminate against them [21, 22]. It seeks to study and promote the educational benefits of justice.

This research focuses on the practical experiences of individuals participating in a specific historical and cultural context. It is not only useful but also fair and has the potential to liberate and promote social development. By critically examining collective processes, it creates opportunities for education and empowerment, leading to positive change and progress toward achieving social justice with integrity [10, 19]. In second place, the author explores power imbalances created by social commitments and feelings of isolation.

The counter-narrative is a methodological strategy used by the oppressed to challenge the dominant narratives that silence, marginalize, or dehumanize them [11]. It involves creating and telling their own stories, which is considered a form of resistance and liberation. Through the counter-narrative, the oppressed can recover their voice, regain their sense of identity, and assert their agency.

The counter-narrative is a method of storytelling that involves dialog, awareness, and action. It aims to resist oppressive identities and replace them with ones that inspire respect. This approach is particularly useful for studying the cultural and structural factors in education that contribute to the marginalization of minority groups, both inside and outside the classroom. It can also shed light on the experiences of those who are absent from the educational discourse due to poverty or social and educational exclusion [23, 24].

The individuals involved in this initiative are activists representing various civil society groups that work together to promote education in difficult environments, whether it be through formal or non-formal educational institutions. These groups include social and indigenous movements, women’s associations, immigrant communities, and associations of individuals who are at risk of social exclusion or searching for missing persons, among others.

The research technique that will be used is based on narratives derived from the experiences of activists who represent the collective voice of marginalized or absent groups. The data collection process will consist of interviews that focus on narration, complemented by direct observation records that will be reflected in a researcher’s diary. The objective is to recover the stories, experiences, and chronicles of the participating individuals who have demonstrated forms of transformative resistance toward the dominant perspectives on education (as shown in Table 1). The narratives collected can include experiences of people who have faced various forms of oppression or those who have lived through oppressive situations as part of a vulnerable group.

The analysis uses Resistance Theory [7] and a phenomenological, meta-textual approach, which involves identifying critical incidents and knots of meaning [25]. This type of analysis aims to systematically uncover and describe the internal structures of meaning within language, to understand the lived experiences of activists in their contextual reality. It involves describing the experiential meanings that activists encounter in their daily lives.

The process of analyzing data involves presenting various categories through representative vignettes. The purpose of these vignettes is to offer a comprehensive and subtle comprehension of the ideas presented. The aim is to demonstrate the several types of transformative resistance and produce a narrative that is independent of the school institutions.

3. Findings and discussion

The purpose of this research is to identify strategies that can be used to challenge and overcome oppressive social systems. The pursuit of knowledge is motivated by the goal of acquiring the tools needed to transform these structures of domination. However, achieving this objective poses a significant challenge that needs to be addressed rigorously and methodically.

In this section, we present the findings of the analysis of the first counter-narrative. The interviewee is an activist and university professor from Guanajuato, Mexico. In his presentation, he shares that he has been involved in social movements for the past 25 years, focusing on human rights and HIV/AIDS issues. He assumes that “the educational work in human rights and the university teaching seemed two separate spaces, one more of the community education. But from my point of view, they have always been intertwined. (…) I cannot separate my two practices, my more social practice, let us say as an activist, my practice as a university professor” (Act1.3).¹

This statement emphasizes his commitment to social awareness as a way of living, “an ethical commitment” (Act.1.9). In this framework, Raymundo establishes a close relationship between the education, the school, and the politics. “The importance of education can vary depending on the context. In situations where there are serious human rights violations or a reduction in the democratic sphere, education can play a crucial role. However, there may be emerging actors who can limit the school’s ability to act and even infiltrate spaces that challenge the traditional role of schools and universities. This creates a complex situation and requires careful consideration of the role of education in addressing these challenges” (Act.1.10).

A school model that solely focuses on life inside the school or within its walls fails to acknowledge the important relationship that exists with the external context. Such a model believes that its primary responsibility is to prevent the effects of violence within the institution. However, it is equally important to develop ways of understanding internal violence and support educational agents who may become victims or have someone close to them affected by violence. He talks about containment: “In this sense, universities, social security, professional practices, and psycho-pedagogical work at the community level should all have a perspective of understanding violence” (Act.1. 14).

The main findings consist of six crucial nodes in his counter-narrative, which are organized according to their type. These nodes account for the type and intensity of counter-hegemonic resistance (Table 1) in both social and educational spheres and help to understand the limited situation experienced not only by those directly involved, but also by the missing victims, their families, and the school communities to which they belong:

1. The Education for Peace project has implemented a pedagogical response to violence. The PP school, which is run by a religious congregation, has developed a model to address the issue of social exclusion. They aim to create a containment model that not only addresses situations that occur within the school but also considers the commitments of the community and family members. They provide support to those who live in limited situations and ensure their safety within and outside of the school. “The school has tried to contain psychological events with cultural artistic expressions and also generate a demand for an institutional response, especially in cases of femicide, in cases of disappearance and the face of cases of distribution of weapons” (Act.1.21). It is resilient due resilience that is not resistance, as it does not seek to bring about systemic change. “It is resilient due to its reactive nature.” He acknowledges that there is a pedagogical approach to modify the reactions of educational agents in extreme cases such as education for peace. Talking about peace in a context of extreme violence should not only be a “perspective of peace awareness or types of peace, but rather develop a much more active perspective, even a reaction to the context strongly devastated by violence, such as human trafficking, femicides, intentional homicide, disappearance and presence of gangs that will not be different from other realities of the region and surely of the country” (Act.1.26).

2. A more fundamental change in basic assumptions is necessary, including identifying and addressing structural violence to achieve comprehensive responses. “The teachers should play a leading role in deciding curricular contents, programs, educational plans, and the purpose of schooling, considering the context they live in” (Act.1.15). The programmatic content reflects an ideology that maintains dominant power structures and is evident in the hidden curriculum.

3. In informative terms, “the goal of education is not just to teach victims, but also those who support and play a key role in the educational process. It is not limited to what happens in the classroom, but is also about building organizational skills, building resilience in the face of violence and other challenging situations” (Act.1.16).

4. The role of a teacher can reveal the challenges of responding to violence and the difficulty of refusing requests from young people who engage in criminal activities. The educational process involves various actors who can respond to such situations. “The emphasis I pointed out in terms of resistance or resilience is at the micro level” (Act.1.32).

5. The accompaniment to the victims of violence “has a strong educational component and emphasizes the processes of organization and capacity development for advocacy, as well as the capacity to recognize oneself as a subject of law” (Act.1.7). Pausing to review the contents of a situation is important, but it is equally important to address the victims. “In this regard, both the school management and administration play a crucial role, as they are responsible for making important decisions. At the same time, the school community must also work together to provide immediate support to those in need” (Act.1.37).

6. A perspective of situated epistemology recognizes the role of educators who are politically committed when faced with violence. It involves a strong political stance of standing with the victim and demanding justice, access to the truth, and serious violations of human rights to be addressed, such as torture, forced disappearance, and execution.

In terms of institutions, the absence of a response requires a rethinking of established power capacities, possibilities, and forms.

4. Conclusions

This study examines how resistance against dominant forces in education can lead to social justice. It argues that current educational policies and programs do not sufficiently address the needs of oppressed minority groups, which results in perpetuating privileges for dominant groups.

The research report is based on the Theory of Resistance, using qualitative methodology, counter-narratives, and a phenomenological perspective. Activists and intellectuals who promote transformative change in education participated in the study. It also highlights the existence of alternative concepts of education, educational relationships, and knowledge that go beyond the traditional Eurocentric model.

The findings reveal that schools resist acknowledging and addressing internal or contextual violence and fail to support victims or their families, upholding hegemonic dominance. The study emphasizes the pressing need for institutional responses in education that encompass a steadfast commitment to human rights education and strategies to promote peace consciousness.

The study suggests that school curricula should address violence comprehensively. This can be done by incorporating a transversal component that promotes understanding and response to violence along with developing skills and capacities for all individuals involved in the educational process. The author notes that schools may not effectively address daily occurrences of violence due to the evident level of social decay. Therefore, it is necessary to engage in a discussion about how to mitigate the effects and direct consequences of violence. Instead of solely focusing on increasing penalties, a more holistic response to violence should adopt an anti-punitive stance. It should not be limited to institutional measures but also necessitate a critical examination of the prohibitionist perspective. Moreover, exploring transitional justice models could offer valuable insights, such as the restitution and reparation of harm. These models have already been incorporated into some aspects of school coexistence programs, recognizing that violence within families and broader contexts requires a multifaceted response.

In constructing new responses to violence, the role of educators is paramount. I recall the account of a secondary school teacher in Guanajuato, where official schools began receiving projects from productive companies that included the illicit sale of “huachicol”—gasoline obtained through sophisticated illegal pipeline networks. This issue goes beyond mere theft and involves an organized structure. While it may seem unavoidable to include elements of illegality in these projects, it is essential to critically question this decision. However, refusing such projects is not a viable option as it would result in failing students who are part of these networks.

Developing a consciousness of peace and integrating human rights education into the curriculum are crucial aspects that transform human rights from a mere subject matter into a way of life that guides individuals in their actions and decision-making processes.

In addition, schools need to establish strong partnerships with local communities, law enforcement agencies, and social service organizations. By collaborating and sharing resources, these stakeholders can work together to provide comprehensive support systems for students who have experienced or witnessed violence. This support may include access to counseling services, trauma-informed care, and legal or social assistance.

In the future, research projects should focus on topics related to managing extreme situations involving students or teaching staff. Additionally, it is important to explore schools’ experiences with resisting hegemonic forces that arise from the evasion of problems presented by their context. Finally, it is essential to study successful cases that have achieved a culture of peace and social justice.

Finally, integrating restorative justice practices into school disciplinary frameworks can be highly advantageous. Instead of focusing solely on punishment, restorative justice emphasizes repairing harm and fostering accountability. By encouraging dialog, understanding, and reconciliation between the parties involved, this approach can help students learn from their mistakes, make amends, and develop healthier relationships within the school community.

Conflict of interests

The authors state that they have no conflict of interest.