Luzia Mara Silva Lima-Rodrigues was born in Brazil, where she built part of her academic and professional career. She is a Pedagogue, specializing in Pedagogical Psychodrama and Psychopedagogy, completed her PhD in Education from Unicamp / Brazil in 1999. The postdoctoral degree in Expressive Therapies and Inclusive Education was completed in 2004 by the University of Lisbon / Portugal.
She acts as international lecturer and guest lecturer of various Portuguese and foreign higher education institutions in countries such as Finland, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, China, Spain, France, England, Ireland, Cape Verde, Italy, Argentina, Egypt, USA, Chile , Canada, among others.
She teaches at the Higher School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, in postgraduate courses in “Special Education” and in “Social Intervention and Artistic Practices”. She was recently invited to the Deputy Director of the Master in Special Education at the Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies in Lisbon.
Member of the Training Center of the National Association of Special Education Teachers, she is a teacher of continuing education courses that take place in schools in mainland Portugal and on the island of Madeira, such as: “Expressive Pedagogies in Inclusive Education”, “Communication in Interculturality ”,“ Inclusive Education and Classroom Diversity ”and others. She is a full member of the Portuguese Society of Psychodrama.
She has extensive experience in promoting small and large groups, using active and expressive methods to promote awareness, interaction, learning and / or reflection. This experience is equally significant in the continuing education of higher education teachers.
She is a member of the organizing and scientific committees of meetings, seminars and international congresses. Peer reviewer of congresses and impact factor journals such as the International Journal of Inclusive Education. She has numerous articles, book chapters and articles in national and international magazines.
Author / organizer of the books “Educational Actions: Experiences with Psychodrama in Pedagogical Practice”, “The Tao of Education: Eastern Philosophy in Western School”, “To learn on the spot: dramatic techniques in Education”, “Pathways to Inclusive Education in Portugal: ten case studies”, among others. Coordinated the organizing team of the Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress, which brought together representatives from 38 countries in Portugal, and was the lead guest editor for the ISEC Book of Proceedings“, published by JORSEN – Journal of Research on Special Educational Needs / UK, alongside world-renowned authors such as Mel Ainscow and David Rodrigues.
Conceived and coordinated the Master in Special Education at Piaget Institute of Almada / Portugal. At the same institution, she conceived and coordinated the Branch of Motricity and Psychomotor Rehabilitation and the Deepening Course in Psychomotor Rehabilitation, of the Degree in Human Motricity. She worked as a lecturer in several Portuguese public and private higher education institutions, such as the Castelo Branco Polytechnic Institute, the Autonomous University of Lisbon and the Lusófona University of Porto.
In Brazil, she was director of the Padre Anchieta School of Education in Jundiaí, taught at the Postgraduate Program in Motor Education at Unicamp, at the Master in Education at Uninove and at the Master in Socio-Community Education at Unisal de Americana, where she is a guest lecturer, as well as the PhD in Education of Unesp in Marília – SP.
She was five-time Brazilian Kung Fu champion, winning several international championships until reaching the Shao Lin World Championship in China in 1995. Her doctorate is on teaching the art and philosophy of Kung Fu and T’ai Chi Chuan in classes of Physical Education. The research was carried out at a public school on the outskirts of a large Brazilian city, for example, with an increase in prosocial behaviours among students who have gone through the experience (cf. “The Tao of Education”, Ed. Ágora).
She travelled the 800km of the French Way of Santiago de Compostela and the lessons learned in these and many other experiences have contributed to the human and ecological dimension of her professional life.
She is the mother of a wonderful teenager, who is her greatest source of inspiration, information, confirmation and perspiration.
Contact: [email protected]