Pataxó Indigenous School Brings Ancestral Knowledge and Commitment to Sustainability into the Classroom

At the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous State School (Colégio Estadual Indígena Coroa Vermelha), located in Santa Cruz Cabrália in southern Bahia, knowledge production emerges from the interaction of different ways of understanding the world, bringing together the ancestral wisdom of the Pataxó people, scientific inquiry, and a strong commitment to sustainability. For example, learning science may involve walking through the forest alongside an Indigenous Elder, listening to a traditional healer explain the use of medicinal plants, observing cassava cultivation, or engaging with community leaders to understand the meaning and significance of the territory.

This experience led the institution to become one of five Brazilian schools selected to participate in the project Transforming Futures: Enhancing Practice for ESD for 2030 through Action Research, an international initiative coordinated by UNESCO across 10 countries to strengthen Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in institutions belonging to the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet). In Brazil, in addition to the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous State School, four other schools located in Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, the Federal District, and Pará are participating in the initiative. The project supports educators and educational institutions in strengthening teaching and learning practices for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) through action research and the use of recently developed guidance tools. As part of this process, participating institutions were selected to pilot and review these tools, focusing on whole-institution approaches to ESD, ESD pedagogies and sustainability competencies, and the assessment of ESD learning outcomes.

Rather than introducing a pre-established model, the project recognized and strengthened practices that were already embedded in the school community’s everyday reality. The selection of the school, located in the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous Territory, enabled it to connect with an international exchange network dedicated to building more sustainable futures. In this context, sustainability, Indigenous identity, and learning were already deeply interconnected.

Participation in Transforming Futures enabled the school community to examine its own practices through the lens of the three toolkits developed by UNESCO. Instead of creating entirely new projects, the school used the tools to identify, document, systematize, and enhance initiatives that were already part of daily school life. Throughout this process, students, teachers, school leaders, families, and Indigenous authorities contributed to testing the applicability of the materials within an Indigenous education context, providing valuable input for their refinement and adaptation to diverse cultural realities.

The school was established in 2010 with the objective of serving Pataxó youth who had completed primary education at the Coroa Vermelha Pataxó Municipal School and previously had to leave their community to attend nearby secondary schools. Today, the institution has expanded its reach through satellite campuses and serves approximately 600 Pataxó students from territories located in the municipalities of Santa Cruz Cabrália and Porto Seguro.

Verônica Santos Pataxó, Pedagogical Coordinator of the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous State School (CEICV), recalls that engagement with the international frameworks led to an important realization: “We were surprised to discover that what the documents presented in theoretical terms was already part of our daily practice.” According to the coordinator, the conceptual tools helped to organize, systematize and give visibility to a pedagogical approach that has been developed throughout the history of the Pataxó people. “Our culture is fundamentally oral. These materials helped us to document and organize this knowledge without abandoning our own educational approach. They enabled us to reconcile traditional and scientific knowledge.”

This integration is reflected in the school’s curriculum. In addition to the subjects required for secondary education, students have access to specific components such as Patxohã, the language of the Pataxó people; Tokmã Kahab (Good Living); the use of medicinal herbs; and other cultural practices directly linked to Indigenous identity.

The experience also encouraged the school to critically reflect on the project’s own tools. During the testing phase, educators identified important convergences between the concepts presented and the principles of Tokmã Kahab (Good Living), while also highlighting the need to adapt certain language and conceptual frameworks to better engage with Indigenous contexts. As a result, beyond benefiting from the tools, CEICV contributed to strengthening them through a perspective grounded in the central role of territory, oral tradition, and ancestry within educational processes.

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