Between Stones and Beans xperiences and Essays on Education

Between Stones and Beans: Experiences and Essays on Education, by Daniel Soares, is a collection of essays that explore education as a humanizing, critical, and transformative practice. Drawing on his experience as a teacher, the author employs literary metaphors—such as João Cabral de Melo Neto’s poem “Catar Feijão”—and myths like that of Philomela to reflect on the educator’s role, the value of discomfort in learning, and the importance of amplifying students’ voices. Inspired by thinkers such as Paulo Freire, Walter Benjamin, and Umberto Eco, Soares critiques “banking education” and the culture of superficial information, advocating instead for a dialogical and experiential pedagogy that embraces error, diversity, and the collective construction of knowledge.