Formation memoir:

life paths, resistance, and professional development in teaching

Abstract

This article presents a memorial of teacher education developed through an autobiographical narrative that reconstructs the life and professional journey of a Black Northeastern Brazilian subject, born in the rural interior of Bahia, whose path was marked by social vulnerability, child labor, and school dropout. Through self-writing, the author critically and reflectively revisits the formative experiences that shaped his identity as an educator, emphasizing the central role of education in his personal, social, and intellectual emancipation. The main objective is to understand how lived experiences – familial, educational, professional, and academic – contributed to the development of his teaching practice and professional identity, in a trajectory that spans from public elementary school to the attainment of a PhD in Education. Methodologically, the study is situated within the field of qualitative research, with a focus on autobiographical narratives, understood as powerful epistemological tools for the production of teacher knowledge. The narrative adopts an analytical approach, attributing meaning to lived events through memory and language, while situating them in historical, social, and institutional contexts. The choice for this approach is grounded in the belief in experience as a legitimate source of knowledge and in the value of voices that are often marginalized in traditional academic discourse. Thus, this memorial becomes an exercise in resistance and affirmation, shedding light on stories of resilience and on the ongoing construction of professional teacher identity in challenging contexts.