Artvita › Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire (1921–1997)

Freire grew up during the Great Depression in northeast Brazil, one of the poorest places in the Western Hemisphere. He became a literacy teacher and discovered that teaching people to read also meant teaching them to question why they were poor. The military government exiled him for it. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, written in exile, has been translated into dozens of languages. His idea was simple and dangerous: education either domesticates or liberates. There is no neutral ground.

Concepts

agency, authenticity, freedom, meaning, oppression, praxis, solidarity

Quotes (6)

“There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either fun...” — Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
“Dehumanization, which marks not only those whose humanity has been stolen, bu...” — Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
“To exist, humanly, is to name the world, to change it. Once named, the world ...” — Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
“Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless me...” — The Politics of Education (1985)
“Only dialogue, which requires critical thinking, is also capable of generatin...” — Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
“Liberation is thus a childbirth, and a painful one. The man or woman who emer...” — Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)