“These are movements that sustain collective dreams, that fight for education, for land, for dignity”: social justice dimensions in a rural science teacher education program

Abstract This article examines the dimensions of social justice embedded in the education of pre-service science teachers in Bachelor’s Degrees in Educação do Campo /Rural Education (LeCampo) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, drawing on critical pedagogies and literature of the sociopolitical turn in Science Education. Grounded in the understanding of science education as a situated social and political practice, the study investigates how social justice principles, particularly environmental justice and cognitive justice, are reflected in the formative trajectories of future teachers. The research adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach based on document analysis of 14 undergraduate theses and 112 chronicles of a single cohort of the program. Data were analyzed inductively, in dialogue with theoretical frameworks on social justice, Educação do Campo , and critical science education. The findings reveal that the analyzed texts engage, to varying degrees, with issues related to social justice, emphasizing the recognition of local knowledge, socio-environmental challenges faced by rural communities, and commitments to social and territorial transformation. The study concludes that LeCampo-UFMG represents a meaningful educational space for integrating science education with social justice and community engagement, contributing to broader discussions on science teacher education in rural and socially marginalized contexts.