Education, Technology, and Leadership: Tabata Amaral

Having celebrated International Education Day 2025 last Friday, we recognise the words of Tabata Amaral, a Brazilian politician and education activist. Her words highlight this year's theme of “AI and education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation”. In a previous Scholar Spotlight, @Leonardo Vilardo, a Laidlaw Scholar at @University College London, expressed his admiration for Tabata Amaral, describing her as a 'refreshing, rational voice in Brazilian politics'. He expressed that he admires her courage and strong commitment to improving Brazil's educational system in Brazil. Amaral's quote emphasises the power of technology in providing good quality education to many: 

A Trailblazer in Advocating Education 

Tabata Amaral is a Brazilian politician and education activist. Notably, she has co-founded organisations such as  Movimento Mapa Educação which advocates for education equality in Brazil. Despite growing up in a poverty-stricken neighbourhood in São Paulo and being exposed to drugs and violence, she represented Brazil in multiple global science competitions, graduating from Harvard University with a degree in astrophysics and political science. In 2018, Amaral ran for Congress, pushing for better public education. She won the seat with more than 260,000 votes and became one of the youngest congresswomen in the history of Brazil at the age of 24. 

In her quote, derived from an interview at IE Business School, Amaral highlights the importance of technology in widening access to education. She refers to an occurrence in the Amazonas in which some schools in isolated areas were so unreachable that often children wouldn't have access to a teacher for months. To combat this, they organised a satellite system so the best teachers in Manaus could teach the children, with a community teacher nearby to support students in person. However, she warns that just using technology is not enough and that we must take action as well, as solely using technology also has the potential to heighten inequality. 

Leadership Driven by Justice 

Amaral's words highlight the monumental impact technology can have in widening education and making it accessible to those who otherwise would be deprived of it. However, it is also important to know how to use technology and help others understand the best ways of navigating technological advancements while ensuring human agency stays dominant.  

Amaral's approach emphasises the Laidlaw value of being #Good and the Oxford Character Project Leadership Virtue of #Justice. Being good means utilising tools such as technology for the benefit of the people we serve, and acknowledging the pitfalls. Justice means to work with the goal of creating a fairer society. 

A Call to Reflect

As we celebrate International Education Day, we invite you to reflect on Tabata Amaral's powerful leadership insights. Share your thoughts in the comments: How can we use technology to make education more accessible?

References 

https://www.ie.edu/insights/articles/tabata-amaral-when-youve-experienced-inequality-so-intensely-you-feel-the-urge-to-do-something/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-50347081

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/international-day-education-egypt