1
00:00:18,291 --> 00:00:21,951
I spent at least 30 years of my life

2
00:00:22,621 --> 00:00:24,731
traveling the world

3
00:00:24,976 --> 00:00:30,271
to study and search out
successful educational experiences

4
00:00:30,681 --> 00:00:35,732
that I could bring back
to inspire Brazilian education

5
00:00:35,930 --> 00:00:38,231
and to attempt to answer

6
00:00:38,631 --> 00:00:43,480
some very fundamental questions
that we must confront

7
00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:49,410
to change the very negative relationship
our students have with their studies.

8
00:00:49,410 --> 00:00:52,007
My mother had a problem
during my delivery,

9
00:00:52,007 --> 00:00:55,832
and because of that, I had cerebral palsy.

10
00:00:56,172 --> 00:01:01,608
The doctors informed my parents
they should be prepared

11
00:01:01,906 --> 00:01:04,632
because I would have
a very challenging life:

12
00:01:04,632 --> 00:01:07,765
I was likely to have difficulty
speaking and hearing,

13
00:01:07,765 --> 00:01:11,511
I would certainly have
learning disabilities,

14
00:01:12,391 --> 00:01:17,052
and the other problems, my parents
would have to help the doctors discover.

15
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,845
So when it came time for me to walk,

16
00:01:21,845 --> 00:01:27,413
my parents discovered that I had
a severe problem in my lower limbs.

17
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,126
I began to undergo a series of surgeries

18
00:01:30,126 --> 00:01:33,709
and spent the first part of my childhood
in between procedures.

19
00:01:33,949 --> 00:01:36,507
Because of that,
I couldn't attend kindergarten,

20
00:01:36,507 --> 00:01:41,785
and I entered the first grade
after the school year had started.

21
00:01:42,025 --> 00:01:43,595
At that time,

22
00:01:43,595 --> 00:01:46,101
the doctors and my parents realized

23
00:01:46,101 --> 00:01:51,039
that my speech and hearing
hadn't been affected.

24
00:01:51,130 --> 00:01:52,880
I started studying -

25
00:01:54,242 --> 00:01:58,712
thanks to great effort from my parents
to get a school to accept me.

26
00:01:59,924 --> 00:02:03,988
The first school said,
"No, she won't be able to keep up."

27
00:02:04,248 --> 00:02:06,304
My parents went to the next school

28
00:02:06,304 --> 00:02:09,522
and promised they would help
with whatever was necessary

29
00:02:09,522 --> 00:02:11,922
if the school accepted me.

30
00:02:11,962 --> 00:02:14,399
And then two things happened.

31
00:02:14,399 --> 00:02:18,851
First, I was passionate about school

32
00:02:18,851 --> 00:02:21,161
and I loved going to class.

33
00:02:21,180 --> 00:02:25,600
And second, to everybody's surprise,

34
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,545
I quickly closed the gap
between me and the other students,

35
00:02:29,545 --> 00:02:33,932
those who had gone to kindergarten

36
00:02:33,932 --> 00:02:37,401
and those who had started
at the beginning of the school year.

37
00:02:37,401 --> 00:02:42,892
From that point on, I was always
the best student in class.

38
00:02:43,679 --> 00:02:46,988
I decided that I wanted to follow
a career in education

39
00:02:46,988 --> 00:02:48,265
because I really wanted

40
00:02:48,265 --> 00:02:52,552
to give back to education
the opportunity it had given me.

41
00:02:52,851 --> 00:02:54,721
I decided that I would study literature

42
00:02:54,721 --> 00:02:58,391
because I always loved grammar,
the Portuguese language, and literature.

43
00:02:58,391 --> 00:03:01,741
But in the middle of my journey
through elementary school,

44
00:03:02,961 --> 00:03:06,172
the teacher called my father
when I'd got to fifth grade,

45
00:03:06,172 --> 00:03:11,241
and he said that I had a knack
for learning English,

46
00:03:11,241 --> 00:03:15,198
and he asked if anyone at home
was helping me with it.

47
00:03:15,198 --> 00:03:16,806
My father was a bricklayer,

48
00:03:16,806 --> 00:03:18,674
my mother was a housewife,

49
00:03:18,674 --> 00:03:22,475
and English had never been
anywhere near our home.

50
00:03:22,475 --> 00:03:24,501
When my father heard this from the school,

51
00:03:24,501 --> 00:03:29,203
he sought out different language programs

52
00:03:29,203 --> 00:03:32,563
until he found a school
that accepted his proposal,

53
00:03:32,563 --> 00:03:38,268
to trade his maintenance services
in return with English classes for me.

54
00:03:38,268 --> 00:03:41,263
It was the only way he could afford it -

55
00:03:41,263 --> 00:03:43,413
with his own work.

56
00:03:44,174 --> 00:03:48,454
Thanks to that,
when I entered college at 17,

57
00:03:48,454 --> 00:03:50,329
I already spoke English.

58
00:03:50,329 --> 00:03:51,841
And when I finished college,

59
00:03:51,841 --> 00:03:55,783
I was granted a scholarship
to do a specialization in England.

60
00:03:55,783 --> 00:03:57,372
When I came back to Brazil,

61
00:03:57,372 --> 00:04:01,673
I worked at coordinating
some language-teaching units

62
00:04:01,673 --> 00:04:06,875
and was invited to grade master's
and doctorate papers of English students

63
00:04:07,034 --> 00:04:12,669
at one of the first Brazilian universities
to have access to high-speed internet.

64
00:04:13,083 --> 00:04:17,265
When I saw the internet at the university
and the computer in the school,

65
00:04:17,265 --> 00:04:18,523
I had an idea,

66
00:04:18,523 --> 00:04:25,301
and I brought these technologies together
to help improve language instruction,

67
00:04:25,301 --> 00:04:29,556
allowing more students to learn English.

68
00:04:29,796 --> 00:04:33,218
This generated news articles
in two big newspapers

69
00:04:33,218 --> 00:04:35,380
from different Brazilian states.

70
00:04:35,380 --> 00:04:39,921
And these articles
led to an invitation I received

71
00:04:39,921 --> 00:04:43,310
to work in a company
that was coming to Brazil

72
00:04:43,310 --> 00:04:46,639
with the initiative
of integrating technology

73
00:04:46,639 --> 00:04:48,826
into all fields of knowledge.

74
00:04:49,687 --> 00:04:52,597
I started working at this company
as a pedagogy assistant,

75
00:04:52,597 --> 00:04:57,499
and I went through all the steps to become
the vice president of the company,

76
00:04:57,499 --> 00:04:59,675
which operated in 89 countries.

77
00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:03,769
I started traveling
to international conventions,

78
00:05:03,769 --> 00:05:06,687
searching for answers -

79
00:05:06,687 --> 00:05:10,175
in countries that had
the world's best education -

80
00:05:10,175 --> 00:05:14,145
on how we could get students involved

81
00:05:14,145 --> 00:05:18,766
and help teachers deal
with the enormous frustration

82
00:05:18,766 --> 00:05:20,082
of preparing a class,

83
00:05:20,082 --> 00:05:21,919
arriving at class all excited,

84
00:05:21,919 --> 00:05:25,121
and leaving unhappy because
they couldn't get the students involved.

85
00:05:25,121 --> 00:05:29,435
The more I got to know model schools,

86
00:05:29,435 --> 00:05:31,529
the more I'd seek for inspiration

87
00:05:31,529 --> 00:05:34,159
and would return to Brazil
to implement the projects.

88
00:05:34,159 --> 00:05:37,570
So after a while -

89
00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:42,071
despite the "she won't hear,
she won't talk, she won't learn" -

90
00:05:42,071 --> 00:05:48,311
I was there, professionally accomplished,
fulfilling my mission in education.

91
00:05:48,311 --> 00:05:53,930
Then came the time
to realize my life's dream:

92
00:05:53,930 --> 00:05:55,335
to become a mother.

93
00:05:55,855 --> 00:05:59,313
And when I decided it was time
to realize this dream,

94
00:05:59,313 --> 00:06:06,033
I was told I wouldn't be able
to have a child.

95
00:06:06,541 --> 00:06:10,097
Because of the issues I still have
from the cerebral palsy,

96
00:06:10,097 --> 00:06:12,845
I wouldn't have a problem
getting pregnant.

97
00:06:12,845 --> 00:06:16,381
But I wouldn't be able
to carry the pregnancy to term.

98
00:06:17,381 --> 00:06:21,467
It took me some time
to process this information,

99
00:06:22,036 --> 00:06:24,698
but I ended up thinking:

100
00:06:24,698 --> 00:06:26,268
this very person,

101
00:06:26,958 --> 00:06:28,859
to whom doctors are saying

102
00:06:28,859 --> 00:06:32,797
it won't be possible 
to realize her dream of having a child,

103
00:06:32,797 --> 00:06:35,746
is also the person who was once told,

104
00:06:36,486 --> 00:06:39,457
"You won't walk, won't talk, won't learn."

105
00:06:39,457 --> 00:06:41,236
And I was doing all of that.

106
00:06:41,236 --> 00:06:44,981
So I decided I'd try to make my dream
of becoming a mother come true.

107
00:06:44,981 --> 00:06:47,051
I got pregnant,

108
00:06:47,051 --> 00:06:49,121
and from the fifth month on,

109
00:06:49,121 --> 00:06:52,560
I understood what the doctors
had been trying to tell me,

110
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,088
and I had a very complicated,
high-risk pregnancy

111
00:06:58,305 --> 00:07:01,117
that required four months
of absolute rest.

112
00:07:01,656 --> 00:07:05,078
On June 30, 1989,

113
00:07:05,661 --> 00:07:08,201
my biggest dream came true:

114
00:07:08,201 --> 00:07:11,541
my daughter was born strong and healthy

115
00:07:12,431 --> 00:07:15,813
and began to accompany me
on my educational mission.

116
00:07:16,387 --> 00:07:18,907
So every time she was on school vacation,

117
00:07:18,907 --> 00:07:22,671
we would go together
to whatever country I was visiting

118
00:07:23,161 --> 00:07:26,131
and to any Brazilian city
I went to for educational work

119
00:07:26,131 --> 00:07:28,990
whenever she was on a break.

120
00:07:29,746 --> 00:07:32,086
When it was time for her to go to college,

121
00:07:32,086 --> 00:07:33,655
to my delight,

122
00:07:34,508 --> 00:07:38,147
she trained in pedagogy
at the University of São Paulo.

123
00:07:38,313 --> 00:07:41,811
After she finished university,
she had an idea:

124
00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,060
to help the families

125
00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:51,559
who were always asking us
for guidance, solutions, and ideas

126
00:07:51,559 --> 00:07:54,939
about how to help their children
get more involved with their education.

127
00:07:54,939 --> 00:07:56,131
So she started a project,

128
00:07:56,131 --> 00:07:57,363
going to families' houses

129
00:07:57,363 --> 00:07:59,567
and helping them to make
the adjustments needed

130
00:07:59,567 --> 00:08:02,723
so the kids would get more involved
with their studies.

131
00:08:02,723 --> 00:08:05,282
And every time she'd visit a family,

132
00:08:05,282 --> 00:08:09,325
she'd call me, wherever I was,
and ask for my help.

133
00:08:09,509 --> 00:08:13,724
And we realized that every time
we planned together,

134
00:08:13,724 --> 00:08:17,093
the family enjoyed great success.

135
00:08:17,093 --> 00:08:20,082
That student - child or adolescent -

136
00:08:20,082 --> 00:08:21,772
was able to study,

137
00:08:21,772 --> 00:08:23,982
to perform better,

138
00:08:23,982 --> 00:08:26,192
and to be engaged with learning.

139
00:08:26,192 --> 00:08:27,962
That is our biggest dream.

140
00:08:27,962 --> 00:08:31,348
Then she invited me to work with her.

141
00:08:32,070 --> 00:08:35,602
And that was how I went to this company,

142
00:08:35,602 --> 00:08:38,898
where I had worked
for 18 years and 5 months,

143
00:08:38,898 --> 00:08:41,223
where I'd built a career,

144
00:08:41,223 --> 00:08:47,549
where I'd overcome several moments
of prejudice because I'm a woman

145
00:08:47,549 --> 00:08:49,597
and because I'm disabled -

146
00:08:50,110 --> 00:08:52,780
not inside the company,
but in the market -

147
00:08:52,780 --> 00:08:54,659
and I resigned.

148
00:08:55,516 --> 00:08:57,716
Many people thought I was crazy

149
00:08:57,716 --> 00:09:00,579
to give up a career
I'd built with such hard work,

150
00:09:00,579 --> 00:09:02,479
but I knew what I was doing.

151
00:09:02,479 --> 00:09:04,720
I had two main motivations.

152
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,983
One, when my daughter invited me
to work with her in education,

153
00:09:08,983 --> 00:09:11,942
I saw, before my eyes,

154
00:09:11,942 --> 00:09:16,855
my life's dream coming together
with my life's mission:

155
00:09:16,855 --> 00:09:21,679
my daughter in education,
inviting me to work with her.

156
00:09:22,613 --> 00:09:24,523
This was my first motivation.

157
00:09:24,523 --> 00:09:28,902
And the second was the desire that I had

158
00:09:28,902 --> 00:09:33,845
to find out if the doctors had been wrong

159
00:09:33,845 --> 00:09:37,373
saying that I would have
learning difficulties,

160
00:09:37,373 --> 00:09:41,414
or if this diagnosis was correct,

161
00:09:41,414 --> 00:09:44,811
what would have allowed me
to overcome this challenge?

162
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,627
At this time,

163
00:09:46,627 --> 00:09:52,310
Taís, my daughter, and I
began to study cognitive neuroscience

164
00:09:52,310 --> 00:09:56,195
to discover what happens in the brain
when we are learning

165
00:09:56,195 --> 00:09:59,000
and maybe to find answers for me.

166
00:09:59,270 --> 00:10:03,992
We've found marvelous
discoveries in neuroscience

167
00:10:03,992 --> 00:10:09,032
that shed light on questions that teachers
confront every day in the classroom,

168
00:10:09,032 --> 00:10:13,453
that parents face at home when the child
doesn't want to study or go to school,

169
00:10:13,453 --> 00:10:17,079
and for the challenges
our students confront today

170
00:10:17,079 --> 00:10:21,309
when they're not able
to pay attention, focus,

171
00:10:21,309 --> 00:10:25,764
have the desire and eagerness to learn.

172
00:10:25,873 --> 00:10:29,499
We were able to share with parents

173
00:10:29,499 --> 00:10:35,526
that every child needs
a shared responsibility inside the home;

174
00:10:36,516 --> 00:10:40,963
otherwise, they won't develop
a passion for their studies.

175
00:10:41,603 --> 00:10:44,443
A child who hears all their life
from their parents,

176
00:10:44,443 --> 00:10:47,474
"My child, your only job is to study.

177
00:10:47,474 --> 00:10:49,377
I'll take care of the rest,"

178
00:10:49,577 --> 00:10:52,860
doesn't develop a sense of responsibility,

179
00:10:52,860 --> 00:10:54,503
self-esteem,

180
00:10:54,503 --> 00:10:57,213
and the memory of procedures and facts

181
00:10:57,213 --> 00:11:00,948
so that they can have
a positive relationship with learning.

182
00:11:01,378 --> 00:11:06,351
And I found out that I'm the living proof

183
00:11:06,351 --> 00:11:10,227
of one of the most recent
discoveries of neuroscience,

184
00:11:10,227 --> 00:11:12,377
and that's neuroplasticity.

185
00:11:12,864 --> 00:11:18,829
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability
to restructure and recover itself

186
00:11:19,276 --> 00:11:20,861
at any stage of life,

187
00:11:20,861 --> 00:11:25,337
especially during childhood
and adolescence.

188
00:11:25,676 --> 00:11:28,523
An environment rich in stimuli

189
00:11:28,523 --> 00:11:32,050
allows the brain to regenerate itself

190
00:11:32,050 --> 00:11:38,217
and to generate social
and cognitive behaviors

191
00:11:38,217 --> 00:11:39,438
and motor skills

192
00:11:39,438 --> 00:11:41,800
that would never have come about

193
00:11:42,223 --> 00:11:48,059
if this student or this child
had never been exposed to challenges,

194
00:11:48,167 --> 00:11:49,834
to praise,

195
00:11:50,434 --> 00:11:54,339
and the belief that they are capable.

196
00:11:55,589 --> 00:12:00,065
I discovered that the way
my parents had brought me up

197
00:12:01,765 --> 00:12:04,625
made me who I am.

198
00:12:04,625 --> 00:12:06,809
They left the maternity room

199
00:12:06,809 --> 00:12:10,034
with the decision that they
would focus on my potential,

200
00:12:10,034 --> 00:12:12,324
not on my deficiencies.

201
00:12:12,324 --> 00:12:15,728
When my father took me to school
in the early days,

202
00:12:15,728 --> 00:12:17,698
I still struggled to walk.

203
00:12:17,698 --> 00:12:20,138
I'd just been released
from a series of surgeries.

204
00:12:20,138 --> 00:12:22,415
I wore a very strange boot then,

205
00:12:22,415 --> 00:12:25,471
and when he walked with me
on the street, holding my hand,

206
00:12:25,471 --> 00:12:28,060
people followed us with their eyes.

207
00:12:28,060 --> 00:12:31,361
When a child was with them,
sometimes the kid would point at us.

208
00:12:31,361 --> 00:12:36,137
Every time this happened,
my father would look at me and say,

209
00:12:36,137 --> 00:12:39,175
"They think your dress is very pretty,"

210
00:12:39,815 --> 00:12:43,903
or "They are admiring your boot."

211
00:12:44,183 --> 00:12:48,193
I believed all that so much
that I'd raise my head and say,

212
00:12:48,193 --> 00:12:50,885
"Let me show off, right?"

213
00:12:52,012 --> 00:12:54,772
My father, one Christmas -

214
00:12:55,210 --> 00:13:00,139
at that time, parents could afford
just one present for all their children.

215
00:13:00,383 --> 00:13:04,433
They felt happy at this accomplishment,
and their children did too.

216
00:13:04,433 --> 00:13:08,736
My father bought a bicycle
as a gift for my three siblings and me.

217
00:13:09,599 --> 00:13:14,519
My siblings unwrapped the bike
and ran out to the street to ride it.

218
00:13:14,519 --> 00:13:17,254
I looked at my father and said,

219
00:13:17,644 --> 00:13:19,989
"I want to ride the bicycle too."

220
00:13:20,611 --> 00:13:26,466
And he said, "So go outside
and ask your siblings to help you.

221
00:13:26,466 --> 00:13:32,556
If they can't help you,
come back and I will help you."

222
00:13:34,047 --> 00:13:35,627
What I remember

223
00:13:36,024 --> 00:13:39,314
is my brother sitting me on the bicycle,

224
00:13:39,314 --> 00:13:42,068
my oldest sister securing me,

225
00:13:42,068 --> 00:13:44,073
my little brother pushing me,

226
00:13:44,073 --> 00:13:45,732
and I swear to you

227
00:13:46,382 --> 00:13:49,842
that I have the memory
of riding the bicycle.

228
00:13:50,538 --> 00:13:54,648
More than these attitudes and stances
coming from my parents,

229
00:13:54,648 --> 00:14:01,325
I had the good fortune
that the school that accepted me,

230
00:14:01,325 --> 00:14:06,075
although they had never heard
of the term "inclusion"

231
00:14:06,075 --> 00:14:07,915
because it still didn't exist,

232
00:14:07,915 --> 00:14:10,247
the school really included me.

233
00:14:10,527 --> 00:14:14,951
All the teachers accepted me

234
00:14:14,951 --> 00:14:18,041
as a student capable of learning.

235
00:14:18,041 --> 00:14:22,128
I was not even dismissed
from physical education class.

236
00:14:22,193 --> 00:14:25,255
My teacher would say to me,

237
00:14:25,255 --> 00:14:30,656
"Roberta, I need help tidying up
the equipment and games.

238
00:14:30,656 --> 00:14:35,860
Could you help me while your classmates
run around the court?

239
00:14:36,350 --> 00:14:39,830
I helped out, very gladly, full of pride.

240
00:14:40,477 --> 00:14:42,437
When I'd finished, she'd say,

241
00:14:42,437 --> 00:14:46,787
"I want you to walk the last lap
around the court,

242
00:14:46,787 --> 00:14:49,303
and your classmates are waiting for you."

243
00:14:49,303 --> 00:14:54,856
I'd go and do the activity
with my friends,

244
00:14:55,673 --> 00:14:59,313
and I felt part of that group,

245
00:14:59,857 --> 00:15:02,839
part of that class,

246
00:15:02,839 --> 00:15:05,544
and capable of learning.

247
00:15:05,754 --> 00:15:09,978
And what I discovered
in cognitive neuroscience

248
00:15:09,978 --> 00:15:15,064
was that cognitive
neuroplasticity is a process

249
00:15:15,574 --> 00:15:20,401
that happens when a parent
says to their child,

250
00:15:20,401 --> 00:15:24,118
"My child, go try. I know you can do it,"

251
00:15:24,728 --> 00:15:26,931
when a teacher says to a student,

252
00:15:26,931 --> 00:15:31,195
"If you can't do it, ask for help.

253
00:15:31,195 --> 00:15:33,085
I'll help you,"

254
00:15:33,559 --> 00:15:37,689
when a teacher tells the student,

255
00:15:38,418 --> 00:15:41,215
"If you can't do it this way,

256
00:15:41,215 --> 00:15:46,221
there must be another way
that, together, we'll be able to do."

257
00:15:49,356 --> 00:15:52,218
And cognitive neuroscience has shown

258
00:15:52,218 --> 00:15:57,338
that the positive expectations
a parent passes onto their child

259
00:15:57,338 --> 00:16:01,508
about their capacity
to overcome challenges

260
00:16:01,508 --> 00:16:04,548
changes their brain physically.

261
00:16:04,548 --> 00:16:09,097
The positive expectation
that you, teachers,

262
00:16:09,097 --> 00:16:12,568
pass onto your students every day

263
00:16:13,307 --> 00:16:16,826
is what your students will carry with them
for the rest of their lives.

264
00:16:16,826 --> 00:16:20,516
Much more than the content
you need to teach them,

265
00:16:20,516 --> 00:16:25,734
they need you to show
that you believe they are capable,

266
00:16:25,734 --> 00:16:28,351
and together you will find the way

267
00:16:28,351 --> 00:16:31,529
so that each one
can learn at their own pace

268
00:16:31,529 --> 00:16:34,649
and develop to their maximum potential.

269
00:16:34,649 --> 00:16:40,851
So, the answer that I searched out
in so many different countries

270
00:16:40,851 --> 00:16:43,032
had already been given to me,

271
00:16:43,032 --> 00:16:48,990
had already been brought to me
by a bricklayer and a housewife -

272
00:16:49,207 --> 00:16:52,397
a bricklayer who studied
up to the third grade in school

273
00:16:52,397 --> 00:16:55,145
and my mother who studied
up to the fifth grade -

274
00:16:55,145 --> 00:17:00,119
and the teachers who had never
even heard of inclusion

275
00:17:00,119 --> 00:17:04,781
but really turned me
into the mother that I am today,

276
00:17:04,781 --> 00:17:07,385
the teacher I've been all my life,

277
00:17:07,385 --> 00:17:09,919
the professional I managed to be,

278
00:17:09,919 --> 00:17:12,476
and this person that today

279
00:17:12,476 --> 00:17:18,022
humbly comes to thank
all the parents and teachers

280
00:17:18,022 --> 00:17:23,527
who are really capable
of bringing about a change in education

281
00:17:23,527 --> 00:17:28,920
so that the students really discover
the pleasure of learning.

282
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:30,124
Thank you.

283
00:17:30,124 --> 00:17:32,632
(Applause)