Freire

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire, commonly known as Freire, was a Brazilian educator and philosopher born in 1921 in Recife and who died in 1997 in São Paulo. He became one of the most influential figures in modern education for his critical approach to teaching and learning. After the 1964 Brazilian military coup, Freire was exiled from Brazil and lived in several countries, including Chile, where he continued to develop his theories, before returning to Brazil in the 1980s. His work has had a lasting impact on literacy programs, teacher training, and approaches to education in diverse cultural and political contexts.

Freire is best known for developing critical pedagogy, a framework that calls for education as a practice of freedom rather than domination. He argued against the “banking model” of education, in which students are passive recipients of information, and promoted dialogical, problem-posing education that engages learners as co-creators of knowledge. Central concepts include conscientización (the development of critical consciousness), praxis (the loop of reflection and action), and the primacy of dialogue and生成 cultural context in learning. Education, for Freire, should empower marginalized learners to understand and challenge social inequalities.

His most widely cited work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (originally published in Portuguese in 1968 and in English in 1970), outlines these ideas and their political implications. Other writings, such as Pedagogy of Freedom and essays on education and democracy, further articulate his vision of education as a means of social transformation. Freire’s ideas have influenced global movements in adult literacy, community education, and participatory development, though they have also faced critiques regarding practicality, political interpretation, and cultural adaptation in different settings.