Building knowledge together: erikson institute president, Mariana Souto-Manning, on the unfinished lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

In this interview, Erikson Institute of Chicago President, Mariana Souto-Manning, responds to questions about how her experiences across two decades of teacher education and innovation in "languaging education" informed her transition her current leadership role in and beyond multiple global crises. A Recife, Brazil native, Souto-Manning is grounded in Freirean values and principles, and she honors these in her commitment to reinvent rather than to reproduce his work. The Covid-19 pandemic raised new questions among educators, and Souto-Manning describes how critical approaches to language can support educational work spanning basic and advanced education, teacher formation, and professional growth across multiple locales and differences. Souto-Manning is particularly concerned with we position traditionally and intersectionality marginalized families and children to show their brilliance rather than pathologizing them and treating them as problems to be solved.