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University of Wyoming

Paulo Freire

A Brazilian educator who believed that social change is the goal of education and always accompanies critical reflection

  • "Consccientization" is process of becoming aware of factors that shape our lives, and of our capacity to transform that reality
  • Ultimate goal of education is liberation which comes with social transformation

Major Tenets

  • Freire believed that education is never neutral: it liberates or oppresses
  • Freire emphasized knowledge as power & sought "equality of social conditions," not individual "equality of opportunity."
  • Application of Freire's radical ideas have helped combat illiteracy in the Third World

His theories have not been as successful in more developed nations