Paulo+Freire

Paulo Freire.(1921- 1997)



**Biography:**

A Brazilian adult educator, Paulo Freire is among the most influential educational thinkers of the late 20th century. Born in 1921 in Recife, Brazil to a middle class family, Freire became familiar with hunger and poverty during the 1929 Great Depression. Freire’s father died in 1933 and he began falling behind in his studies by four grades. He spent much of his social time playing with fellow poor children. These experiences helped form his educational views and concern for the poor. His family’s misfortunes improved and he was able to attend the University of Recife in 1943 where he studied philosophy, phenomenology, and psychology of language. Although Freire was admitted to the legal bar, he never practiced, instead he taught Portuguese in secondary schools from 1941-1947. In 1944, Freire married Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira, a fellow teacher, with whom he had five children. Freire later became active in adult education and workers' training, and became the first Director of the Department of Cultural Extension of the University of Recife from 1961 to 1964. Freire was exiled from his native Brazil during a military coup in 1964 for his educational work among the rural poor that lasted 15 years. In 1969, he taught at Harvard University as a visiting scholar, and then moved to Geneva, Switzerland to play the role of special education adviser to the World of Congress of Churches. Freire later returned to his own country in 1979 under political amnesty. In 1988 he was also appointed Minister of Education for the City of Sao Paulo. This position made him responsible for guiding school reform within two-thirds of the Brazil’s schools. Freire died of heart failure in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1997.

**Research Interests and Projects:**

Freire is an optimistic educator who sought after educational justice for the poor, exiled, and imprisoned. He was a world leader in the struggle for liberating the poorest of the poor. His impoverished adolescence influenced his decision to dedicate his life to improving the lives of the poor. He states, “I didn't understand anything because of my hunger. I wasn't dumb. It wasn't lack of interest. My social condition didn't allow me to have an education. Experience showed me once again the relationship between social class and knowledge" (Stevens, 2002). Freire toiled to help men and women overcome their sense of powerlessness to be able to act in their own behalf. Freire's famous work was //Pedagogy of the Oppressed,// in which he proposed solutions for liberating education. Freire's path to liberation is explained in two stages: First, people need to become aware of their oppression and through cultural consciousness they can transform their oppressed state. Second, the building of the first stage in turn will lead to a permanent process that enables liberation of cultural actions. Freire's educational views and methodologies are part of many school reform efforts in major urban areas.

**Interesting Fact:**

In 1962 as director of the Department of Cultural Extension of Recife University, Freire had the first opportunity to apply his theories. As part of his liberation theory, 300 sugarcane workers were taught to read and write in just 45 days. Because of this, the Brazilian government approved the creation of thousands of cultural circles across country.

media type="youtube" key="1Wz5y2V1af0" height="349" width="425"