Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (1921-1997)

“Because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause – the cause of liberation.”

– Paulo Freire

Known as the leading advocate for critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire was a Brazilian author, philosopher, and educator who championed education in the fight for liberation, equity, and peace. Through close readings of Freire’s work, explorations of multimedia analysis of his concepts, and dialogues (both academic and community-based) with practitioners of Frerian pedagogy, Professor Hantzopoulos and I inquired: How has Freire’s theories been implemented into practice in educational settings?

Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) is a seminal, foundational, and revolutionary text from which scholars, activists, and educators draw techniques and theories to institute and sustain social change. With this text as a basis, Professor Hantzopoulos curated a shortlist of books as a catalyst point for further exploration: Education for Critical Consciousness and Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage both by Freire, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope and Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom both by bell hooks.

Paulo Freire in the praxis of a “culture circle.”

These books guided me in creating an annotated bibliography of fifty sources ranging from teaching guides, lesson plans and activities, journal articles, book chapters, research databases, videos and documentaries, to podcasts with a focus on the implementation of Freirian theory in educational settings. Each source either contextualized, criticized, or built upon Freire’s ideas. This open-ended exploration allowed me to not only track the ways in which people have employed Freirian practice in everyday life but also track the evolution of Freire’s ideas as they were put through an iterative process of trial, error, and revision in varying contexts.

With this complex and rich bevy of sources, I created an interactive website that chronicles this iterative process; this process revealed to me that Freire’s theories and praxis holds a cyclical paradigm. Paulo Freire’s teachings are still relevant today because they emphasize the powerful influence education has in shaping citizens and society.

“Looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are so that they can more wisely build the future.”

– Paulo Freire