Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire
Paulo Reglus Neves Freirewas a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. He is best known for his influential work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, considered one of the foundational texts of the critical pedagogy movement...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth19 September 1921
CountryBrazil
struggle order humanity
In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create it), become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both
reality men tangible
To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce.
real struggle identity
… Without a sense of identity, there can be no real struggle…
winning people roles
The revolutionary's role is to liberate, and to be liberated, with the people--not to win them over.
men ideas quests
Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion.
models oppressors oppressed
The oppressed find in the oppressors their model of 'manhood.'
reality people world
In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation.
profound people world
Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and its people.
revolution social entity
Revolution is born as a social entity within the oppressor society.
men reflection order
Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.
people requirements dialogue
Faith in people is an a priori requirement for dialogue.
reality views world
The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world. The more completely they accept the passive role impressed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them.
fighting reality knowing
[T]he more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side.
feels former oppressed
The former oppressors do not feel liberated. On the contrary, they genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed.