A TEACHER'S SELF (MYTH)POETIC NARRATIVES ABOUT EDUCATION, CORPOREALITY AND LEISURE IN DIALOGUES WITH PAULO FREIRE

Abstract

Taking as a reference my life story in the process of becoming a teacher and, over the nearly forty years of teaching in basic and higher education, I point out in this paper self(myth)poietic narratives that allowed us to analyse the presence of the concepts of corporeality and playfulness in my education background and teaching performance as well, in dialogue with Paulo Freire’s writings. I develop this article showing my approach to Freire's thought, highlighting the graduation in Physical Education carried out in the times of the dictatorship and some experiences during my pedagogical practice in schools. Then, I bring out elements from Freire's writings for understanding the concept of the body. Assuming that the conscious body is one that fully and playfully lives its presence in the world, occupying spaces, experiencing its culture, constituting different identities and subjectivities, relating to itself, to the other and to the planet; I discuss leisure, a cultural phenomenon where these experiences become possible. It is in this dimension of human life that men and women preferentially live their bodies, resistances and dreams. I conclude by stating that love, as Freire imagined, is the way out of our utopian dreams of a society that provides collective dignity and hope for justice in this world.