Paulo Freire and Pedagogy for Social Justice

This paper examines the work of Paulo Freire, until his recent death the most widely recognized educator in the world. Freire is addressed in theory and practice, analyzing his objective idealism and his efforts to build critical consciousness in literacy campaigns, especially in Grenada. The examination of Freire's theory and practice offers a window into his larger project: pedagogy for liberation. At issue is whether or not the promise of critical consciousness and liberation from oppression can be achieved by Freire's theoretical stance or his “see-judge-act” system of interactive education. Freire's emphasis on the pivotal role of ideas as a material force, his critical method of analysis, his determination to engage in concrete social practice, his democratic and ethical pedagogy, and his insistence that leaders become one with the mass of people, offer guides to understand how his lessons might be used to deepen questions about the form and content of citizenship education with social justice as a goal.