Ethical issues and research in education: dialogues with Paulo Freire

In the context of challenges related to the development of research in education, this text addresses contributions of Paulo Freire's ideas to the theoretical-methodological path of a doctoral research completed in 2021, which focused on the dialogue between continuing education and institutional evaluation in early childhood education. In a qualitative approach and from the perspective of a theoretical study, this bibliographic-documentary article discusses ethical issues, based on reflections present in the work "Pedagogy of Autonomy: necessary knowledge for educational practice". The analyzes show implications of Freire's thought for the understanding of research as an ethical, political and pedagogical act that can produce, through the valorization of our presence in the world, the conviction that change is possible and, in this way, strengthen movements for social transformation.