About this book

„Taking her own life as a reference, Mariana sought, in her very existence, the raw material for reflection and research. Struggling against countless obstacles, she allows us to perceive between the lines of her text just how much she strives to keep the subjectivity of desire alive in the professional sphere, valuing dreams and utopia; and, with a clear awareness of life’s complexity, she does not forget to incorporate the fears and feelings considered negative, as well as the imperfections inherent to being human. Through her work, Mariana stands up for the most vulnerable and the socially excluded, showing us that learning is an inalienable human right. However, for this right to be exercised, many aspects of education need to be transformed; for example, the way we view assessment must change, moving away from the notion that it is a source of low self-esteem or a measure of success in life, towards seeing it as a special opportunity for each individual to think for themselves. In Mariana’s view, which I share, the pedagogical relationship should be seen not as moments of transmitting ready-made, finished and certain knowledge, but as a journey to be undertaken, life stories to be shared. On this journey, young people would gradually establish a relationship with knowledge whose fundamental characteristic would be not to fear uncertainty and the unpredictable, embracing the differences which, as Mariana says, ‘make the composition of meanings possible’. The text that Mariana offers us is grounded in ways of perceiving existence that recognise the complexity of human beings and the world around them, the acknowledgement of various levels of reality that permeate this world and human beings, and the need to engage in mediations, through a logic of inclusion, fostering the emergence of the sense of ‘knowing how to learn’ with and from otherness, always against a backdrop of restlessness”.

Foreword by Maria Elisa de Mattos Pires Ferreira