Teacher profile: Thais Pimentel Cabral
- syoung679
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
Centring relationships in anti-oppression work
Anti-oppression work has been the focus of Thais Pimentel Cabral’s pedagogy for her entire career. Last year, she was awarded the Intercultural Trust Award at the BC Multicultural and Anti-Racism Awards, which aim to honour advocates who combat racism and create a more inclusive province.
Thais’s anti-oppression work is rooted in relationality and reciprocity. She intro-duces herself to students only as Thais to help disrupt classroom power dynamics. She finds dropping the formal title of Ms. helps with relationship-building because it sets a tone of everyone being equal.
At the start of the school year, Thais focuses on getting to know students so she can tailor her lessons and curriculum to the individuals in her class. An important part of anti-oppressive pedagogy for Thais is giving students agency in the classroom. Students have a say in everything from content to assessment, and they always have an opportunity to make connections bet-ween the curriculum and their identity.
“I want to celebrate their identities; I want them to investigate their own stories and see how those stories intersect with history,” said Thais.
When student reports of racism began to increase in Thais’s school, she became the teacher sponsor for a student-led anti-racism group called the BIPOC Liberation Collective (BLC). The group welcomed students from marginalized communities to create a support network.
“There would not be a relationship between the BCTF and the Paulo Freire Institute without Thais; it was driven by her passion to have more people understand what anti-oppression work looks like.” – Lizanne Foster
The value of a support network for folks experiencing racism is immeasurable. Thais draws on her personal experiences with racism to support students in finding action-based solutions to addressing the racism they experience.
Thais first suggested a book club with the BLC using This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell so students could develop a better understanding of how to name and dismantle racism. From there, students felt empowered to take action. With Thais’s support, students created and delivered interactive workshops about different anti-oppression and anti-bullying topics to elementary students at three feeder schools surrounding their secondary school.
“Students from the BIPOC Liberation Collective deeply engaged my Grade 3 students on topics like racism and allyship via meaningful conversations and scenarios that reached students at all levels,” said Krystal Ng, Surrey teacher. “The workshops gave students the vocabulary to describe injustices they experienced and empowered students to stand up to all forms of racism in our school community. Thais and the BIPOC Liberation Collective are doing truly transformational leadership anti-racism work through their workshops.”
The BLC also led celebrations within their school to make sure students from different backgrounds feel seen and welcomed. Celebrations include a Black Music Night, Eid celebration, and Dia de los Muertos.
“In the three or so years the BLC has been running with Thais as its sponsor teacher, its positive impact is undeniable,” said Jane Akindele-Abe, a former BLC student participant. “From the individual level, up to the provincial level where it drafted and executed the province’s first K–12 anti-racist workshop, the BLC was a much-needed group, akin to a safe haven.”
Outside of her classroom, Thais’s anti-oppression work continues through the union. She has been a BCTF facilitator, is a member of the Anti-Oppression Educators’ Collective, and participates in local committees, including the Surrey Teachers’ Association (STA) International Solidarity Committee.
In 2021, the STA International Solidarity Committee discussed providing financial support to teacher organizations in South America. Thais volunteered to look into establishing relationships with organizations in Brazil, a country she has strong connections to and experience teaching in.
At that time, Paulo Freire’s legacy in Brazil was under attack from Bolsonaro’s government. Freire’s philosophy about liberation through education, and education as a tool for social change, contrasted with Bolsonaro’s far-right ideology. As such, the Paulo Freire Institute was facing severe funding cuts.
Over the course of two years, and countless emails and calls, Thais drew on her experience living and teaching in Brazil and BC to build a relationship with the Paulo Freire Institute (IPF) in Brazil.
“Thais […] was responsible for the foundation of this partnership, introducing the IPF to everyone, translating the documents, identifying common points of struggle and resistance,” said Angela Biz Antunes, Pedagogical Director at the Paulo Freire Institute. “Her boldness, creativity, [and] persistence found ways to clear up some aspects of bureaucracy, making the partnership viable.”
Eventually, it was clear that this partnership had the potential to create meaningful and lasting change in both Brazil and BC. She presented at the BCTF International Solidarity Committee to raise awareness of the threat minority groups faced under Bolsonaro’s government and share her vision of how relationship-building can create international solidarity that is more horizontal and less hierarchal.
“It was important to participate in international solidarity based on reciprocity, not based on economic power,” said Thais.
Her idea for the BCTF’s relationship with the IPF was to establish a partnership where both organizations contribute something. The BCTF would support the IPF financially. In return, the IPF would offer professional development opportunities and anti-oppression training to BC teachers. During her time as a BCTF facilitator for anti-racism workshops, Thais saw first-hand how anti-oppression training could improve BC’s public education system. The idea of an exchange program where teachers could learn about anti-oppressive pedagogy came from this experience designing and facilitating workshops.
“Thais truly was a warrior in helping the Paulo Freire Institute survive and also thrive,” said Annie Ohana, STA and WR Long Committee member. “She was and is integral to building this intercambio relationship. What I took away from her herculean efforts was that so many of our members give their heart, soul, heritage, and lived experiences to our union so that we can be ever-more inclusive.”
Thais’s presentation eventually led to the BCTF’s first international solidarity trip to the IPF in São Paulo, Brazil, where BCTF members had an opportunity to learn about Freirean pedagogy. Members reported that the trip was transformational for their own practices as teachers in BC.
Building this relationship for the union was a way for Thais to honour her connection to Brazil while also decolonizing our education system. It gave teachers an opportunity to learn from their colleagues in Brazil, and to bring that anti-oppressive pedagogy into their schools where more teachers and students can benefit from it.
“There would not be a relationship between the BCTF and the Paulo Freire Institute without Thais; it was driven by her passion to have more people understand what anti-oppression work looks like,” said Lizanne Foster, retired teacher who was formerly on the STA International Solidarity committee. “Every step of Thais’s teaching and being includes anti-oppressive philosophy; she lives this work.”