The passion to know the world

The Passion of Knowing the World , by Madalena Freire, a landmark in Brazilian childhood pedagogy, is republished in a commemorative edition celebrating its 40th anniversary.

First published in 1983, A paixão de saber o mundo broke new ground by presenting the practice of writing reports for children's classes in early childhood education and literacy, making the experience and inventiveness of São Paulo's cutting-edge and experimental schools accessible to a wide audience. With detailed descriptions, accompanied by the children's own drawings, readers are invited to experience the daily life of a Madá classroom: a shared and passionate journey through learning, on a path where nothing is ready. Here, theory and practice join hands, in the best Freirean style, enabling teachers, families, and students to discover and build together a passion for learning.

Having revolutionized the understanding of the roles of teachers and students for decades, this book can be understood in many ways: like a map, but one that functions differently. It doesn't present specific places and territories, much less generic, academic solutions or ready-made answers disconnected from reality. On the contrary: it shares the classroom experience, which is the pulsating life itself, so that other educational processes can emerge from the analytical practice of listening, constant creation, and active thinking.

Editora Paz & Terra celebrates the importance of this historical record in this new, revised and expanded edition that, for the first time, features a facsimile reproduction of the Book of Our Stories – the beautiful and colorful notebook in which all this loving, creative and vibrant exchange is poured out.

"In a story full of engagement and emotion, Madalena Freire shows us that knowledge is constructed by both children and teachers. [...] That traditional relationship in which the teacher is someone who has already learned everything and now only teaches has been set aside, giving way to creative and vibrant work." – Folha de S.Paulo

“Learning is living in transformation, without closing the boundaries between intellectual and emotional life, between play and the ultimate challenge.” - from the afterword by José Miguel Wisnik

"A pedagogical dream, the impossible that became reality, in the Vila Madalena neighborhood, at the Vila School, where the action unfolds. There, Madalena Freire teaches children—and learns from her—to explore the world with passion." - Istoé