0:00:18.291,0:00:21.951
I spent at least 30 years of my life

0:00:22.621,0:00:24.731
traveling the world

0:00:24.976,0:00:30.271
to study and search out[br]successful educational experiences

0:00:30.681,0:00:35.732
that I could bring back[br]to inspire Brazilian education

0:00:35.930,0:00:38.231
and to attempt to answer

0:00:38.631,0:00:43.480
some very fundamental questions[br]that we must confront

0:00:44.370,0:00:49.410
to change the very negative relationship[br]our students have with their studies.

0:00:49.410,0:00:52.007
My mother had a problem[br]during my delivery,

0:00:52.007,0:00:55.832
and because of that, I had cerebral palsy.

0:00:56.172,0:01:01.608
The doctors informed my parents[br]they should be prepared

0:01:01.906,0:01:04.632
because I would have[br]a very challenging life:

0:01:04.632,0:01:07.765
I was likely to have difficulty[br]speaking and hearing,

0:01:07.765,0:01:11.511
I would certainly have[br]learning disabilities,

0:01:12.391,0:01:17.052
and the other problems, my parents[br]would have to help the doctors discover.

0:01:17.360,0:01:21.845
So when it came time for me to walk,

0:01:21.845,0:01:27.413
my parents discovered that I had[br]a severe problem in my lower limbs.

0:01:27.680,0:01:30.126
I began to undergo a series of surgeries

0:01:30.126,0:01:33.709
and spent the first part of my childhood[br]in between procedures.

0:01:33.949,0:01:36.507
Because of that,[br]I couldn't attend kindergarten,

0:01:36.507,0:01:41.785
and I entered the first grade[br]after the school year had started.

0:01:42.025,0:01:43.595
At that time,

0:01:43.595,0:01:46.101
the doctors and my parents realized

0:01:46.101,0:01:51.039
that my speech and hearing[br]hadn't been affected.

0:01:51.130,0:01:52.880
I started studying -

0:01:54.242,0:01:58.712
thanks to great effort from my parents[br]to get a school to accept me.

0:01:59.924,0:02:03.988
The first school said,[br]"No, she won't be able to keep up."

0:02:04.248,0:02:06.304
My parents went to the next school

0:02:06.304,0:02:09.522
and promised they would help[br]with whatever was necessary

0:02:09.522,0:02:11.922
if the school accepted me.

0:02:11.962,0:02:14.399
And then two things happened.

0:02:14.399,0:02:18.851
First, I was passionate about school

0:02:18.851,0:02:21.161
and I loved going to class.

0:02:21.180,0:02:25.600
And second, to everybody's surprise,

0:02:25.600,0:02:29.545
I quickly closed the gap[br]between me and the other students,

0:02:29.545,0:02:33.932
those who had gone to kindergarten

0:02:33.932,0:02:37.401
and those who had started[br]at the beginning of the school year.

0:02:37.401,0:02:42.892
From that point on, I was always[br]the best student in class.

0:02:43.679,0:02:46.988
I decided that I wanted to follow[br]a career in education

0:02:46.988,0:02:48.265
because I really wanted

0:02:48.265,0:02:52.552
to give back to education[br]the opportunity it had given me.

0:02:52.851,0:02:54.721
I decided that I would study literature

0:02:54.721,0:02:58.391
because I always loved grammar,[br]the Portuguese language, and literature.

0:02:58.391,0:03:01.741
But in the middle of my journey[br]through elementary school,

0:03:02.961,0:03:06.172
the teacher called my father[br]when I'd got to fifth grade,

0:03:06.172,0:03:11.241
and he said that I had a knack[br]for learning English,

0:03:11.241,0:03:15.198
and he asked if anyone at home[br]was helping me with it.

0:03:15.198,0:03:16.806
My father was a bricklayer,

0:03:16.806,0:03:18.674
my mother was a housewife,

0:03:18.674,0:03:22.475
and English had never been[br]anywhere near our home.

0:03:22.475,0:03:24.501
When my father heard this from the school,

0:03:24.501,0:03:29.203
he sought out different language programs

0:03:29.203,0:03:32.563
until he found a school[br]that accepted his proposal,

0:03:32.563,0:03:38.268
to trade his maintenance services[br]in return with English classes for me.

0:03:38.268,0:03:41.263
It was the only way he could afford it -

0:03:41.263,0:03:43.413
with his own work.

0:03:44.174,0:03:48.454
Thanks to that,[br]when I entered college at 17,

0:03:48.454,0:03:50.329
I already spoke English.

0:03:50.329,0:03:51.841
And when I finished college,

0:03:51.841,0:03:55.783
I was granted a scholarship[br]to do a specialization in England.

0:03:55.783,0:03:57.372
When I came back to Brazil,

0:03:57.372,0:04:01.673
I worked at coordinating[br]some language-teaching units

0:04:01.673,0:04:06.875
and was invited to grade master's[br]and doctorate papers of English students

0:04:07.034,0:04:12.669
at one of the first Brazilian universities[br]to have access to high-speed internet.

0:04:13.083,0:04:17.265
When I saw the internet at the university[br]and the computer in the school,

0:04:17.265,0:04:18.523
I had an idea,

0:04:18.523,0:04:25.301
and I brought these technologies together[br]to help improve language instruction,

0:04:25.301,0:04:29.556
allowing more students to learn English.

0:04:29.796,0:04:33.218
This generated news articles[br]in two big newspapers

0:04:33.218,0:04:35.380
from different Brazilian states.

0:04:35.380,0:04:39.921
And these articles[br]led to an invitation I received

0:04:39.921,0:04:43.310
to work in a company[br]that was coming to Brazil

0:04:43.310,0:04:46.639
with the initiative[br]of integrating technology

0:04:46.639,0:04:48.826
into all fields of knowledge.

0:04:49.687,0:04:52.597
I started working at this company[br]as a pedagogy assistant,

0:04:52.597,0:04:57.499
and I went through all the steps to become[br]the vice president of the company,

0:04:57.499,0:04:59.675
which operated in 89 countries.

0:05:00.199,0:05:03.769
I started traveling[br]to international conventions,

0:05:03.769,0:05:06.687
searching for answers -

0:05:06.687,0:05:10.175
in countries that had[br]the world's best education -

0:05:10.175,0:05:14.145
on how we could get students involved

0:05:14.145,0:05:18.766
and help teachers deal[br]with the enormous frustration

0:05:18.766,0:05:20.082
of preparing a class,

0:05:20.082,0:05:21.919
arriving at class all excited,

0:05:21.919,0:05:25.121
and leaving unhappy because[br]they couldn't get the students involved.

0:05:25.121,0:05:29.435
The more I got to know model schools,

0:05:29.435,0:05:31.529
the more I'd seek for inspiration

0:05:31.529,0:05:34.159
and would return to Brazil[br]to implement the projects.

0:05:34.159,0:05:37.570
So after a while -

0:05:37.570,0:05:42.071
despite the "she won't hear,[br]she won't talk, she won't learn" -

0:05:42.071,0:05:48.311
I was there, professionally accomplished,[br]fulfilling my mission in education.

0:05:48.311,0:05:53.930
Then came the time[br]to realize my life's dream:

0:05:53.930,0:05:55.335
to become a mother.

0:05:55.855,0:05:59.313
And when I decided it was time[br]to realize this dream,

0:05:59.313,0:06:06.033
I was told I wouldn't be able[br]to have a child.

0:06:06.541,0:06:10.097
Because of the issues I still have[br]from the cerebral palsy,

0:06:10.097,0:06:12.845
I wouldn't have a problem[br]getting pregnant.

0:06:12.845,0:06:16.381
But I wouldn't be able[br]to carry the pregnancy to term.

0:06:17.381,0:06:21.467
It took me some time[br]to process this information,

0:06:22.036,0:06:24.698
but I ended up thinking:

0:06:24.698,0:06:26.268
this very person,

0:06:26.958,0:06:28.859
to whom doctors are saying

0:06:28.859,0:06:32.797
it won't be possible [br]to realize her dream of having a child,

0:06:32.797,0:06:35.746
is also the person who was once told,

0:06:36.486,0:06:39.457
"You won't walk, won't talk, won't learn."

0:06:39.457,0:06:41.236
And I was doing all of that.

0:06:41.236,0:06:44.981
So I decided I'd try to make my dream[br]of becoming a mother come true.

0:06:44.981,0:06:47.051
I got pregnant,

0:06:47.051,0:06:49.121
and from the fifth month on,

0:06:49.121,0:06:52.560
I understood what the doctors[br]had been trying to tell me,

0:06:52.560,0:06:57.088
and I had a very complicated,[br]high-risk pregnancy

0:06:58.305,0:07:01.117
that required four months[br]of absolute rest.

0:07:01.656,0:07:05.078
On June 30, 1989,

0:07:05.661,0:07:08.201
my biggest dream came true:

0:07:08.201,0:07:11.541
my daughter was born strong and healthy

0:07:12.431,0:07:15.813
and began to accompany me[br]on my educational mission.

0:07:16.387,0:07:18.907
So every time she was on school vacation,

0:07:18.907,0:07:22.671
we would go together[br]to whatever country I was visiting

0:07:23.161,0:07:26.131
and to any Brazilian city[br]I went to for educational work

0:07:26.131,0:07:28.990
whenever she was on a break.

0:07:29.746,0:07:32.086
When it was time for her to go to college,

0:07:32.086,0:07:33.655
to my delight,

0:07:34.508,0:07:38.147
she trained in pedagogy[br]at the University of São Paulo.

0:07:38.313,0:07:41.811
After she finished university,[br]she had an idea:

0:07:42.840,0:07:46.060
to help the families

0:07:46.060,0:07:51.559
who were always asking us[br]for guidance, solutions, and ideas

0:07:51.559,0:07:54.939
about how to help their children[br]get more involved with their education.

0:07:54.939,0:07:56.131
So she started a project,

0:07:56.131,0:07:57.363
going to families' houses

0:07:57.363,0:07:59.567
and helping them to make[br]the adjustments needed

0:07:59.567,0:08:02.723
so the kids would get more involved[br]with their studies.

0:08:02.723,0:08:05.282
And every time she'd visit a family,

0:08:05.282,0:08:09.325
she'd call me, wherever I was,[br]and ask for my help.

0:08:09.509,0:08:13.724
And we realized that every time[br]we planned together,

0:08:13.724,0:08:17.093
the family enjoyed great success.

0:08:17.093,0:08:20.082
That student - child or adolescent -

0:08:20.082,0:08:21.772
was able to study,

0:08:21.772,0:08:23.982
to perform better,

0:08:23.982,0:08:26.192
and to be engaged with learning.

0:08:26.192,0:08:27.962
That is our biggest dream.

0:08:27.962,0:08:31.348
Then she invited me to work with her.

0:08:32.070,0:08:35.602
And that was how I went to this company,

0:08:35.602,0:08:38.898
where I had worked[br]for 18 years and 5 months,

0:08:38.898,0:08:41.223
where I'd built a career,

0:08:41.223,0:08:47.549
where I'd overcome several moments[br]of prejudice because I'm a woman

0:08:47.549,0:08:49.597
and because I'm disabled -

0:08:50.110,0:08:52.780
not inside the company,[br]but in the market -

0:08:52.780,0:08:54.659
and I resigned.

0:08:55.516,0:08:57.716
Many people thought I was crazy

0:08:57.716,0:09:00.579
to give up a career[br]I'd built with such hard work,

0:09:00.579,0:09:02.479
but I knew what I was doing.

0:09:02.479,0:09:04.720
I had two main motivations.

0:09:04.720,0:09:08.983
One, when my daughter invited me[br]to work with her in education,

0:09:08.983,0:09:11.942
I saw, before my eyes,

0:09:11.942,0:09:16.855
my life's dream coming together[br]with my life's mission:

0:09:16.855,0:09:21.679
my daughter in education,[br]inviting me to work with her.

0:09:22.613,0:09:24.523
This was my first motivation.

0:09:24.523,0:09:28.902
And the second was the desire that I had

0:09:28.902,0:09:33.845
to find out if the doctors had been wrong

0:09:33.845,0:09:37.373
saying that I would have[br]learning difficulties,

0:09:37.373,0:09:41.414
or if this diagnosis was correct,

0:09:41.414,0:09:44.811
what would have allowed me[br]to overcome this challenge?

0:09:44.960,0:09:46.627
At this time,

0:09:46.627,0:09:52.310
Taís, my daughter, and I[br]began to study cognitive neuroscience

0:09:52.310,0:09:56.195
to discover what happens in the brain[br]when we are learning

0:09:56.195,0:09:59.000
and maybe to find answers for me.

0:09:59.270,0:10:03.992
We've found marvelous[br]discoveries in neuroscience

0:10:03.992,0:10:09.032
that shed light on questions that teachers[br]confront every day in the classroom,

0:10:09.032,0:10:13.453
that parents face at home when the child[br]doesn't want to study or go to school,

0:10:13.453,0:10:17.079
and for the challenges[br]our students confront today

0:10:17.079,0:10:21.309
when they're not able[br]to pay attention, focus,

0:10:21.309,0:10:25.764
have the desire and eagerness to learn.

0:10:25.873,0:10:29.499
We were able to share with parents

0:10:29.499,0:10:35.526
that every child needs[br]a shared responsibility inside the home;

0:10:36.516,0:10:40.963
otherwise, they won't develop[br]a passion for their studies.

0:10:41.603,0:10:44.443
A child who hears all their life[br]from their parents,

0:10:44.443,0:10:47.474
"My child, your only job is to study.

0:10:47.474,0:10:49.377
I'll take care of the rest,"

0:10:49.577,0:10:52.860
doesn't develop a sense of responsibility,

0:10:52.860,0:10:54.503
self-esteem,

0:10:54.503,0:10:57.213
and the memory of procedures and facts

0:10:57.213,0:11:00.948
so that they can have[br]a positive relationship with learning.

0:11:01.378,0:11:06.351
And I found out that I'm the living proof

0:11:06.351,0:11:10.227
of one of the most recent[br]discoveries of neuroscience,

0:11:10.227,0:11:12.377
and that's neuroplasticity.

0:11:12.864,0:11:18.829
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability[br]to restructure and recover itself

0:11:19.276,0:11:20.861
at any stage of life,

0:11:20.861,0:11:25.337
especially during childhood[br]and adolescence.

0:11:25.676,0:11:28.523
An environment rich in stimuli

0:11:28.523,0:11:32.050
allows the brain to regenerate itself

0:11:32.050,0:11:38.217
and to generate social[br]and cognitive behaviors

0:11:38.217,0:11:39.438
and motor skills

0:11:39.438,0:11:41.800
that would never have come about

0:11:42.223,0:11:48.059
if this student or this child[br]had never been exposed to challenges,

0:11:48.167,0:11:49.834
to praise,

0:11:50.434,0:11:54.339
and the belief that they are capable.

0:11:55.589,0:12:00.065
I discovered that the way[br]my parents had brought me up

0:12:01.765,0:12:04.625
made me who I am.

0:12:04.625,0:12:06.809
They left the maternity room

0:12:06.809,0:12:10.034
with the decision that they[br]would focus on my potential,

0:12:10.034,0:12:12.324
not on my deficiencies.

0:12:12.324,0:12:15.728
When my father took me to school[br]in the early days,

0:12:15.728,0:12:17.698
I still struggled to walk.

0:12:17.698,0:12:20.138
I'd just been released[br]from a series of surgeries.

0:12:20.138,0:12:22.415
I wore a very strange boot then,

0:12:22.415,0:12:25.471
and when he walked with me[br]on the street, holding my hand,

0:12:25.471,0:12:28.060
people followed us with their eyes.

0:12:28.060,0:12:31.361
When a child was with them,[br]sometimes the kid would point at us.

0:12:31.361,0:12:36.137
Every time this happened,[br]my father would look at me and say,

0:12:36.137,0:12:39.175
"They think your dress is very pretty,"

0:12:39.815,0:12:43.903
or "They are admiring your boot."

0:12:44.183,0:12:48.193
I believed all that so much[br]that I'd raise my head and say,

0:12:48.193,0:12:50.885
"Let me show off, right?"

0:12:52.012,0:12:54.772
My father, one Christmas -

0:12:55.210,0:13:00.139
at that time, parents could afford[br]just one present for all their children.

0:13:00.383,0:13:04.433
They felt happy at this accomplishment,[br]and their children did too.

0:13:04.433,0:13:08.736
My father bought a bicycle[br]as a gift for my three siblings and me.

0:13:09.599,0:13:14.519
My siblings unwrapped the bike[br]and ran out to the street to ride it.

0:13:14.519,0:13:17.254
I looked at my father and said,

0:13:17.644,0:13:19.989
"I want to ride the bicycle too."

0:13:20.611,0:13:26.466
And he said, "So go outside[br]and ask your siblings to help you.

0:13:26.466,0:13:32.556
If they can't help you,[br]come back and I will help you."

0:13:34.047,0:13:35.627
What I remember

0:13:36.024,0:13:39.314
is my brother sitting me on the bicycle,

0:13:39.314,0:13:42.068
my oldest sister securing me,

0:13:42.068,0:13:44.073
my little brother pushing me,

0:13:44.073,0:13:45.732
and I swear to you

0:13:46.382,0:13:49.842
that I have the memory[br]of riding the bicycle.

0:13:50.538,0:13:54.648
More than these attitudes and stances[br]coming from my parents,

0:13:54.648,0:14:01.325
I had the good fortune[br]that the school that accepted me,

0:14:01.325,0:14:06.075
although they had never heard[br]of the term "inclusion"

0:14:06.075,0:14:07.915
because it still didn't exist,

0:14:07.915,0:14:10.247
the school really included me.

0:14:10.527,0:14:14.951
All the teachers accepted me

0:14:14.951,0:14:18.041
as a student capable of learning.

0:14:18.041,0:14:22.128
I was not even dismissed[br]from physical education class.

0:14:22.193,0:14:25.255
My teacher would say to me,

0:14:25.255,0:14:30.656
"Roberta, I need help tidying up[br]the equipment and games.

0:14:30.656,0:14:35.860
Could you help me while your classmates[br]run around the court?

0:14:36.350,0:14:39.830
I helped out, very gladly, full of pride.

0:14:40.477,0:14:42.437
When I'd finished, she'd say,

0:14:42.437,0:14:46.787
"I want you to walk the last lap[br]around the court,

0:14:46.787,0:14:49.303
and your classmates are waiting for you."

0:14:49.303,0:14:54.856
I'd go and do the activity[br]with my friends,

0:14:55.673,0:14:59.313
and I felt part of that group,

0:14:59.857,0:15:02.839
part of that class,

0:15:02.839,0:15:05.544
and capable of learning.

0:15:05.754,0:15:09.978
And what I discovered[br]in cognitive neuroscience

0:15:09.978,0:15:15.064
was that cognitive[br]neuroplasticity is a process

0:15:15.574,0:15:20.401
that happens when a parent[br]says to their child,

0:15:20.401,0:15:24.118
"My child, go try. I know you can do it,"

0:15:24.728,0:15:26.931
when a teacher says to a student,

0:15:26.931,0:15:31.195
"If you can't do it, ask for help.

0:15:31.195,0:15:33.085
I'll help you,"

0:15:33.559,0:15:37.689
when a teacher tells the student,

0:15:38.418,0:15:41.215
"If you can't do it this way,

0:15:41.215,0:15:46.221
there must be another way[br]that, together, we'll be able to do."

0:15:49.356,0:15:52.218
And cognitive neuroscience has shown

0:15:52.218,0:15:57.338
that the positive expectations[br]a parent passes onto their child

0:15:57.338,0:16:01.508
about their capacity[br]to overcome challenges

0:16:01.508,0:16:04.548
changes their brain physically.

0:16:04.548,0:16:09.097
The positive expectation[br]that you, teachers,

0:16:09.097,0:16:12.568
pass onto your students every day

0:16:13.307,0:16:16.826
is what your students will carry with them[br]for the rest of their lives.

0:16:16.826,0:16:20.516
Much more than the content[br]you need to teach them,

0:16:20.516,0:16:25.734
they need you to show[br]that you believe they are capable,

0:16:25.734,0:16:28.351
and together you will find the way

0:16:28.351,0:16:31.529
so that each one[br]can learn at their own pace

0:16:31.529,0:16:34.649
and develop to their maximum potential.

0:16:34.649,0:16:40.851
So, the answer that I searched out[br]in so many different countries

0:16:40.851,0:16:43.032
had already been given to me,

0:16:43.032,0:16:48.990
had already been brought to me[br]by a bricklayer and a housewife -

0:16:49.207,0:16:52.397
a bricklayer who studied[br]up to the third grade in school

0:16:52.397,0:16:55.145
and my mother who studied[br]up to the fifth grade -

0:16:55.145,0:17:00.119
and the teachers who had never[br]even heard of inclusion

0:17:00.119,0:17:04.781
but really turned me[br]into the mother that I am today,

0:17:04.781,0:17:07.385
the teacher I've been all my life,

0:17:07.385,0:17:09.919
the professional I managed to be,

0:17:09.919,0:17:12.476
and this person that today

0:17:12.476,0:17:18.022
humbly comes to thank[br]all the parents and teachers

0:17:18.022,0:17:23.527
who are really capable[br]of bringing about a change in education

0:17:23.527,0:17:28.920
so that the students really discover[br]the pleasure of learning.

0:17:28.920,0:17:30.124
Thank you.

0:17:30.124,0:17:32.632
(Applause)