Paulo Freire
Founder of critical pedagogy who reframed adult education through dialogue, conscientization, and praxis
Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator and central figure in critical pedagogy. From adult literacy work in northeastern Brazil, he argued that education should not deposit knowledge into students but use dialogue to help learners read the world, name their conditions, and transform them.
Methodologies
- Culture Circle Problem-Posing Method - Move from lived words, coding, and dialogue into literacy practice.
- Banking Education Diagnostic Checklist - Identify when class treats people as containers.
Key decisions and timeline
- 1921 Born in Recife, Brazil - Educators must see learners' conditions.
- 1947 Joined SESI for Worker Education - Curriculum entry points should come from learners' lives.
- 1963 Angicos Adult Literacy Experiment - When pedagogy touches voting and voice, it becomes political power.
Beliefs and mental models
- Belief 1 - Teachers and learners are subjects who co-create knowledge through shared problems.
- Belief 2 - True literacy is not only reading words but reading structures of power, work, and dignity.
- Belief 3 - Education should organize cycles of action, reflection, and renewed action.
- Model 1
- Model 2
- Model 3