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Brief Lives

Paulo Freire (1921-1997)

Bruno de Oliveira follows a philosopher of liberation through education.

Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher, remains one of the most influential thinkers in pedagogy (the theory of teaching) and social justice. Best known for his 1970 seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire’s ideas have resonated across disciplines, particularly in education, philosophy, and critical theory. His approach to education was rooted in a commitment to human liberation, emphasising the need to empower the oppressed and challenge systems of domination. His legacy is found in the transformative educational movements across the globe inspired by his ideas.

Born in Recife, Brazil, in 1921, Freire experienced poverty, hunger, and marginalisation first-hand during the Great Depression. His early life in a working-class family shaped his understanding of inequality and the relationship between power and education. This experience became the foundation for his later work, where he viewed education as a powerful tool for social change.

Freire was trained in law but quickly moved into teaching and educational research, working primarily with Brazil’s rural impoverished. His early career focused on literacy campaigns for adult learners – an initiative that would evolve into his radical educational philosophy.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Grounded in his experience working with Brazil’s poor and illiterate, Freire developed a theory that both challenges traditional educational methods and critiques the broader socio-political structures that perpetuate inequality and oppression. He saw education as a means of awakening consciousness, and, in turn, enabling the oppressed to challenge and transform their conditions.

At its core, Freire’s pedagogy is a call to action, positioning education as a practice of freedom that must awaken the oppressed to their own capacity for transformation. Freire argues that education should not merely impart knowledge but cultivate a critical consciousness that empowers the oppressed to act against injustice. In doing so, education becomes an act of liberation, challenging the fatalism and passivity that systems of oppression foster in the marginalised.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed, written during Freire’s political exile in Chile between 1964-69 after a military junta took over Brazil, is his most significant contribution to educational theory. The book explores the dynamics of oppression, and argues that education should be an act of liberation rather than of domestication. Freire’s concept of conscientização (conscientisation) is central to this. Conscientisation is the process by which individuals become aware of the structural forces that oppress them and, crucially, of their ability to transform those structures. Alternatively put, it is the process by which individuals come to understand the socio-political realities of their world, and so take action to change them.

This philosophy has resonated particularly in postcolonial contexts, where educational systems often reflect colonial ideas of power and knowledge. Freire’s work became a blueprint for liberation movements in Africa, Latin America, and beyond, influencing educational reforms to aid dismantling colonial structures.

Freire’s educational model diverged sharply from traditional teaching methods, which he criticised as ‘banking education’. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire’s describes the ‘banking education’ model as one in which students are treated as empty vessels into which teachers deposit knowledge, thus perpetuating systems of inequality by discouraging critical thinking. In this relationship, students are passive, accepting knowledge as a fixed truth, delivered from the top down, and are rarely encouraged to question or critically engage with the material. For Freire, this dynamic mirrors the hierarchical structures of an oppressive society, where the oppressed are conditioned to accept their situation without question: the teacher-student dichotomy reflects this oppressor-oppressed relationship, with teachers controlling the flow of knowledge like oppressors, denying students the opportunity to become active agents in their own learning.

Against this, Freire proposes ‘problem-posing education’, which breaks down the hierarchical barrier between teacher and student. Here, the teacher is not a superior knowledge-holder, but a co-learner who engages in dialogue with students. This dialogical approach aims to create a more egalitarian learning environment, where knowledge is constructed collaboratively. By engaging in critical dialogue, both teacher and student participate in a shared journey of discovery, reflecting on their lived experiences and questioning the socio-political forces shaping their reality. Here education is not the transmission of a fixed, unquestionable content, but a process of inquiry. In this model, education becomes a process of mutual inquiry, in which students are encouraged to question, reflect, and engage critically with the world around them. This emphasis on dialogue is deeply connected to Freire’s philosophical roots in existentialism and Marxism.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed invites readers to rethink the purpose of education in societies shaped by inequality, urging that education be not just a tool for social mobility, but a force for collective liberation too. In Freire’s view, education is an act of defiance against oppression, fostering critical awareness and laying the groundwork for human emancipation.

The book has faced criticism. Some argue that Freire’s oppressor-oppressed dichotomy is overly simplistic, neglecting the complexity of social relations in more affluent or liberal contexts. Others question the practical applicability of his ideas, particularly in formal education systems where curriculum demands and standardised assessments leave little room for the type of open-ended dialogue Freire envisions. Dialogue and critical reflection can be challenging to implement in environments with limited time and resources. Moreover, his Marxist-inflected critique of power structures has been presented as too ideologically driven, potentially alienating those outside leftist frameworks.

Paulo Freire mural at Universidad del Bio-Bio
Freire mural photo @ Nefandisimo 2015 Creative Commons 4

A Pedagogy for Liberation

Freire’s A Pedagogy for Liberation (1987), co-authored with Ira Shor, continues and deepens his earlier work. In this book, the emphasis shifts from theory to practice, focusing on how education can actively contribute to the liberation of both the oppressed and their educators. Yet Freire’s philosophy remains grounded in his belief that education should not be a passive transfer of knowledge, but a dynamic, participatory process to enable critical consciousness.

At the heart of A Pedagogy for Liberation is the notion that teaching is a political act. Freire challenges the idea that education can be neutral or apolitical. In traditional educational systems, teachers often like to maintain an illusion of neutrality, positioning themselves as an objective authority. However, Freire argues that such a stance perpetuates existing power dynamics and reinforces the status quo. So to achieve true liberation, teachers must recognise their political agency and the inherently political nature of their practice. Freire calls for teachers to become ‘cultural workers’, actively dismantling oppressive structures through education. The educator-student relationship is reimagined as a partnership in which both parties critically reflect on their experiences and the world around them. Freire insists that this mutuality does not weaken the educator’s role, but transforms it, allowing educators to facilitate learning that encourages critical thinking and social awareness.

A Pedagogy for Liberation builds on Freire’s earlier critique of the banking model of education. Freire and Shor advocate once again for the ‘dialogical’ approach where education centres on conversation and mutual learning. But Freire’s concept of ‘praxis’ is essential in this later work. Praxis, for Freire, is a combination of reflection and action. He argues that education should involve reflection that leads to concrete actions that challenge oppression. It is not enough to understand the mechanisms of oppression; educators and students must work together to transform their social reality. This approach ties education directly to activism, and suggests that learning is incomplete unless it leads to tangible efforts towards social liberation.

While A Pedagogy for Liberation offers a powerful vision for an engaged, emancipatory education, it too is not without a critique. Critics might again argue that Freire’s approach is idealistic when applied to formal education settings constrained by rigid curricula and assessment systems. Additionally, Freire’s description of the educator’s political stance may be seen as a challenge to the impartiality valued in some educational systems, particularly in liberal democracies. Yet the book remains a significant contribution to educational theory, particularly in contexts where education may well be seen as a tool for social justice. Again, Freire’s focus on the political nature of teaching and the importance of dialogue in the classroom resonates powerfully with contemporary movements for decolonisation and the deconstruction of oppressive knowledge systems.

A Pedagogy for Liberation remains a thought-provoking text that calls for a radical rethinking of the educational process. Freire’s insistence on the political nature of teaching and learning challenges the illusion of neutrality, urging educators and students alike to see themselves as active participants in knowledge creation and societal transformation. Through the concept of praxis, Freire emphasises that education must drive meaningful action to dismantle systems of oppression.

Despite critiques of its idealism and practical challenges, A Pedagogy for Liberation continues to inspire educators committed to social justice, offering a vision where teaching is not merely about imparting information, but about engaging in the larger struggle for human freedom and equality.

Freire’s commitment to transformative, dialogical education has had a lasting impact, and his ideas have been embraced by educators and activists, community organisers, and philosophers of social justice worldwide. After a lifetime promoting the education of the poor around the world, Paulo Freire passed away from heart failure in 1997 in Sao Paulo. However, his work continues to inspire those seeking to create a more equitable world through the power of critical thought and collective action. Today, his ideas are synonymous with education as an act of freedom, embodying the hope that knowledge and dialogue can lead to genuine human emancipation.

Bruno de Oliveira is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chichester.