Rhizome freirean 11. Expanding the love of learning education thought auto-biography approach to generate transformation from our educational practices. Expanding the sharing job and/or co-constructed with Isabel López Górriz

Mª Dolores Jurado Jiménez, Sevilla University and Paulo Freire Institute of Spain [1]

This number of the journal RizomaFreireano is dedicated essentially to education from the auto/biographical focus but from a perspective that integrates the love as a way of transforming people. This approach is part of a paradigm of complexity in that it recovers essentially an authenticity and love word. To put this perspective linked to existential education, we must go back to the roots, which are part of the decade of the 80. It is from this period from which the international view set a large picture with Life History in Education, creating various partnerships since then.

But in the Spanish state is from the mi-90’s when they start having some relevance, it is they begin to expand again, and they were influenced by European Associations such as ASIHVIF ( Asociation Internationale de Histoires de Vie en Formation) whose members work from different perspectives with the auto/biographical focus in Adult Education, where the experience and self-training (life process of building ourselves) have been fundamental parts. We must to highlight the work of Gaston Pineau and Christine Josse (who has written an article for this magazine).

Isabel López Górriz , whom we dedicate this number of the magazine, was member of the Administration Council (Directive Committee) of ASIHVIF, she develop an intense collaboration in this partnership, in which she insisted to include, from the research and training perspective, existential education linked to the auto/biographical approach. She was also an active member of another relevant association in Europe, as is ESREA (European Society for Research in Adult Education), whose members conform a network that in the last years shows an interest for using life history, as an instrument of qualitative research. This two European associations use both the research and the formative perspective, and we can see more and more exchanges of approaches among members of these associations, being very different in the theoretical part, the methodological part and the epistemological part.

In the Spanish state, Isabel has expanded the work of life history in education from an existential perspective, which incorporates the formative part but also the research part, we have to highlight her contribution to the Paulo Freire Institute but also her contribution to the Resource and Continuing Education Center of the Provincial Council of Valencia (CREC), this center develops this dynamic and perspective, for example, in Diálogos Magazine, number 57 of 2007, where they made a monographic which reflects the epistemological consistency, the methodological consistency, and the research and training consistency of the existential education perspective, always drawing on life and autobiographical histories. In this context has been a challenge to bring this perspective, the expansion of Life Histories in education is new (just for inform, the First Conference of Life Histories in Education were in 2010 in Barcelona, and the Second one in 2011 in Málaga ), in this conference hardly raises the existential approach.

Internationally, she also be a part from the Scientific Committee of International Auto/biographic Research Congress held in Brazil (CIPA), participating in events like AFIRSE (Association Francophone de Recherche en Education), ASHIVIF-RBE (Association Internationale des Histoires de Vie en Formation et de Recherche Biographique en Education), or glimpsing the impulse to other associations of Life History as ANNHIVIF in 2007 (Associação Norte- Nordeste - Brasil - das Histórias de Vida em Formação ) or BIOgraph in 2008 (Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa (Auto) Biográfica). She is a founder and member of some of these Associations Maria da Conceição Passeggi , who also writes an article in this number of the Rizoma Freireano Magazine.

This number reflects the experiential perspective, training perspective and research perspective and they are based on the life histories and autobiographical narration framed in the new epistemologies, methodologies and theories that advocate the education as an emergency, transformation autopoiesis and deployment of life, in a personal level and in a collective level, always questioning other educative practices that squeeze the life, the formation, the education and the humanity. The love of life and education as an engine for transformation remains a challenge today. We get back the voice of this professor, who has fought and has broken institutional barriers for, from the love of one word and a genuine approach, allowing the seeds to germinate in our minds to provide continuity and bring out the love in our daily lives, especially when we work with people and when we deal with expanding the potential that each person behave in its purest essence.

Feeling love for oneself and feeling love for others by recording a committed work is not always easy in a world where we feel constantly contradictions. A world where individualities and rivalries are strong and current, and at the same time that we are involved in collective movements, intergenerational movements and international movements. Articulate autobiographical knowledge and conceptual knowledge is a complex issue that takes us from the singular to the universal and vice versa. Learning from other people and learning with others implies an educative and formative model with a deep belief in the potential of every human being. There are people in the life of every person who have left deep scars, and in our life, Isabel has been and is one of them. She has been a teacher of life for us as a student, as a friend and as a companion, but also for many others in which she, her whole being and their personal and professional integrity, has been deepened.

From her and with her we have learned that love in every relationship as it fills, it enriches you as a person. Her love, whether in a Formation Life Histories Association (ASIHVIF) with Christine Josso or Jean-Louis Le Grand or other, has been expanded in areas where they have come together at the same time scientific work, experiential work and vital work, as is the case of Maria da Concepçao Passeggi between several CIPAS in different parts of Brazil. That love has passed her person, allowing the contact and the emotional approach between people who know her. She has portrayed and educational model that integrates the auto/biography and poses strong ties, where the accompaniments go beyond the academic or institutional, generating emotional encounters as is the case of Inés Gabari Gambarte (Public University of Navarra). And also, that love and great work, stretches to bring forth the potential of the action of the people who inspires and invites to theorizing process, action, vital process, social process and political process, and spread and share knowledge, as is the case of Teresa González Uribe (México), who also writes an article for this number.

This number of the Rizoma Freireano Journal aims relegated rhizomatically some of the different people who knew Isabel as an intellectual but also as a person and whose existence we struck a chord, because we share a real word, aimed at discovering deep existential point of each partner or traveling companion (students, professional colleagues, friends,…) . One of its peculiarities is to think and investigate everything, rethinking the thoughts to make it a research of life, therefore questioning their attitude has always been present and even more now –in a context of questioning moment-, this is a moment of existential questions of global crises (economic, psychological, cultural,…), social responsibilities and political responsibilities… that we have pending.

The number of this magazine contains four articles, one by Christine Josso who raises the importance of self care to improve the care of others, this question is important and pioneer, the fact of integrating this question into the formation processes, knowledge processes and learning processes in the Permanent Adult Education. Is a challenge the approach of this author, who from the paradigm of the sensible and with a lot of sensitivity and solidarity raises a great concern and deep commitment to professional and scientific rigor in other integrated dimensions and other ways to know the body and the essential (developed by Dani Bois with Isabel as a PHD director in the Sevilla University in 2008).

Another article focuses on the importance of ethics and solidarity in the autobiographical narratives, written by María da Concepçao Passeggi , who from Brazil and very clear, moves us to a Freire approach in the university, and she poses essential questions for an committed education with the essence of the person. Questions and issues that pose important challenges and they cross continents and borders.

Also, Teresa Gonzalez Uribe, exposes us in an experimental way the love for and from the practice triggered through self-awareness workshops in which the shaft are the life histories that go beyond a university academic level, and then they move to the society creating a genuine politic commitment with the people. In this article we can perceives the evolution of the teacher has had to generate two institutional formative contexts to integrate in two continents (México and Spain).

And finally, we can find an article, shared with Inés Gabari Gambarte , who in the Spanish State has worked with an educational approach very close to Isabel, and with whom she shared the third cycle of formation in the university with the methodological application of the class diary. These diaries are taken as a training tool and evaluative research, but also as an important tool for the development of the construction process of identity/gender is, in the context of qualitative investigations and existential investigation (a process we are inserted and a process in which Isabel has been our companion ad PHD director, and now the director is Inés).

To complete this magazine number, we include a video (with the consent of her family) where Isabel raises her methodology and the importance of the life histories en the formation, but also in the investigation education. Isabel devoted much of her career to work in the life histories from de university classroom. She always worked in her autobiography from a formative and investigational perspective (from 80’s), deploying resources to bring openness to these methodologies, methods, knowledge, know-how that helps set up these jobs from the scientific research but by engaging in from which not only plays a research topic, but it helps to stimulate and recreate other forms of relationships, feelings, do to help the person as a unique social and re-constituted and re-built in becoming more autonomous and self-directed, allowing progress in understanding social dynamics and socializing.

She theorized many of these processes of Autobiographical Research from an existential perspective, understanding the ravages of the educational process and research and the experience of it, as well as some guidelines that can lead to a transformation of the person as a unique and socially. That is why she has on several occasions their experiences, feelings, difficulties and all that surrounds this phenomenon in contexts in which these spaces investigators still had not been included as necessary for an education worked from complexity.

Similarly, in this magazine we include an unpublished autobiographical history from Isabel (dedicated to his sister Carmen), then through the group of women who we were investigating our lives with her, it was set as one of the group's projects share readings, tools (healing, restorative of our uniqueness as women) histories auto/biography to help us set the projection of the type of women who want to do or need to do. And she gave us, as good hostess, some of them that she had prepared before leaving.

Also include a letter that talks about love, and at the same time it is written from the heart and full of love.

We thank the Paulo Freire Institute of Spain, this space of continuity of work of many years of effort, struggle and demands of genuine space like this. And especially thank Pep Aparicio Guadas, who serves on the board, who has been able to envision and create opportunities to expand this pioneering work from a professional like Isabel López Górriz . And finally, we can only thank the family of Isabel his collaboration and people who have agreed to write or participate in the translation or assembly of the video in this issue of the journal. We conclude with words of Isabel:

[1] Translation: Marina Aparicio Barberan