"Ao som do movimento e das mudanças"

Abstract

This memorial, entitled “To the sound of movement and changes”, follows the requirements for promotion from the class of Associate Professor IV to that of Full Professor at the Federal University of Uberlândia, when describing my academic training and performance. On this opportunity, I revisit my trajectory bringing the story of my life and academic training, my professional and teaching activities, and my work at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). My contribution at UFU covers the activities developed and involvement with higher education, research, extension, and management. The reading I make of teaching, when recalling my sixteen years as a public servant, is that it involves teaching, the desire to learn, managing the different tempos of each student, and researching. The tireless questioning of deciphering inequalities, the constant re-planning, and the proposition of transformative actions in society that go beyond the walls of the university. This means that the formative process of becoming a teacher, researcher, outreach worker, and manager is inseparable from the act of educating, as it constitutes the essence of teaching. To exist in these terms, one must understand the importance of reading the world through the word “as a political act and an act of knowledge, and therefore, as a creative act” (Freire, 1982, p. 13), “that does not exhaust itself in the pure decoding of the written word or written language but anticipates and extends in the intelligence of the world” (idem, p. 9). The lenses I use to give intelligibility to my professional exercise as a Physiotherapist and as a teacher involve ethical and academic rigor, affection for people, and hope for a collective, egalitarian, supportive, and dignified world. Life is a unique journey, and every step we take is part of a path that belongs only to us. Sometimes it may seem that no one around us understands the choices we make or the dreams we pursue since our path is personal and non-transferable. It is true that not everyone will understand your struggles or applaud your achievements. There may be moments of solitude, doubt, and misunderstanding. But every challenge faced is a lesson learned, and each victory, no matter how small, is a triumph of courage and authenticity. And in the end, it is this courage to be truly ourselves that will illuminate not only my path but also inspire others to find theirs. At the end of this text, I want to make it clear my impetus to continue following a social and human practice. I reaffirm my involvement, dedication, and the production of knowledge that has been achieved and that is yet to come, always aimed at the rigor of a public, free, critical, progressive, secular, and caring education. I hope, with enthusiasm “to the sound of movements and changes,” that drive the teaching in Physiotherapy, to work for a life full of meaning.