Voice for Maria Favela

Antonio Leal is a Brazilian educator and educational theorist.Alexis Gibbs (Translator) is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies and Liberal Arts at the University of Winchester, UK.

• Preface by Inny Accioly (Fluminense Federal University, Brazil)Translator’s Introduction, Alexis Gibbs (University of Winchester, UK)1. (Author’s) Introduction2. March of ‘813. Play4. Games5. Methods6. Family7. Special Education8. The Pupil9. Didactics10. Community11. The Civic12. The Cliché13. Murals14. A Civil Intervention15. The Maid16. Sickness/Hunger/Madness17. Violence18. PoliticsReferencesIndex

I read this book in two sittings and was enthralled throughout. First, the translation is very fluid—it reads with verve, depth, and fluidity. The translators have captured a voice and rendered it clearly for English readers. The book itself is something of a revelation for critical education or anyone interested in the tradition following Paulo Freire. One of the central questions of Freire’s oeuvre is how does this politically-informed, radically democratic method apply to children and special education methods. Another is the sheer readability of Freire, whose use of theory can sometimes confound readers in teacher education courses. Leal solves both these problems: his text is explicitly methods-based, showing every detail of how he approached his transformative coursework, which will shock and transform educators’ presumptions about pedagogy. It is practical to the extreme while maintaining the same analysis and radical approach of Freire. Finally, it is entoxicatingly readable, vulnerable, and relatable to anyone without technical academic training.