Paulo Freire: Education as the Practice of Freedom

What if education wasn’t about memorizing facts, but about transforming society? 

Few educators have redefined the philosophical foundations of learning as radically as the Brazilian thinker Paulo Freire (1921–1997). His work transformed the act of education from a process of transmission to one of liberation. For Freire, education was never a neutral enterprise; it either perpetuated domination or became a means of emancipation. In his seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), he declared that “education either functions as an instrument that is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” 

This assertion positioned Freire within a broad philosophical tradition that saw education as inherently political. Yet Freire’s originality lay in the synthesis he achieved between existential humanism, Marxist social analysis, and Christian ethics of solidarity. The result was a pedagogy that treated learners not as passive recipients of information but as agents in the co-creation of knowledge and social reality. His thought remains one of the most influential educational philosophies of the twentieth century, resonating across disciplines from critical pedagogy and sociology to decolonial studies and political theory. 

From Hunger to Awareness: The Genesis of a Philosophy 

Freire’s philosophical trajectory cannot be separated from his lived experience. Born in Recife, in Brazil’s impoverished Northeast, his early life was marked by the Great Depression of 1929, which plunged his middle-class family into poverty. Hunger, he recalled, shaped his earliest experiences of learning. “I didn’t understand anything because of my hunger,” he later said. “I wasn’t dumb. It wasn’t a lack of interest. My social condition didn’t allow me to have an education.” 

This early confrontation with deprivation led Freire to reject abstract or elitist models of pedagogy detached from the learner’s lived reality. For him, education could not be reduced to the mechanical acquisition of literacy or facts; it was a social practice, inextricably linked to the conditions of existence. Freire’s conviction that knowledge emerges through the interplay of reflection and action—what he later termed praxis—was grounded in this early understanding that thought divorced from material reality is sterile. 

Paulo Freire returned to Brazil in the context of political opening / Photo: Reproduction

Intellectual Foundations and Influences 

Freire’s philosophical framework drew from an exceptionally wide range of thinkers, whom he reinterpreted through the lens of Brazil’s social and political struggles. From Karl Marx, he absorbed the idea of class consciousness, yet he refused to reduce human identity to economic categories alone. Instead, he extended the Marxian concept of alienation to include dimensions of race, gender, and culture. 

From Anísio Teixeira, a leading figure of Brazilian educational reform, Freire inherited the belief that public, free, and democratic education was essential for overcoming the authoritarian legacy of colonization. Teixeira’s project to democratize education provided Freire with a national model for linking pedagogy to political renewal. 

John Dewey’s influence is visible in Freire’s emphasis on participatory and experiential learning. Dewey’s conception of education as a “social process” grounded in democracy and inquiry resonated deeply with Freire’s idea that “teachers and students should learn together.” Dewey’s insistence on dialogue and mutual respect anticipated Freire’s own rejection of hierarchical, authoritarian models of teaching. 

Erich Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis profoundly shaped Freire’s ethical vision. From Fromm, he drew the distinction between necrophilic and biophilic orientations toward life: the former characterized by control, rigidity, and domination, the latter by creativity, love, and openness. Freire’s insistence that love is a necessary condition for dialogue—“I am an intellectual who is not afraid of being loving”—echoes Fromm’s conviction that genuine human freedom is rooted in the capacity to love and trust others. 

Finally, the postcolonial insights of Frantz Fanon and Albert Memmi allowed Freire to articulate the psychological dimension of oppression. Both authors demonstrated how colonization implants the oppressor’s image within the consciousness of the colonized. Freire cited this phenomenon directly in Pedagogy of the Oppressed: “The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor, become fearful of freedom.” This insight became central to his belief that education must liberate not only materially but also psychically. Antonio Gramsci’s concept of the “organic intellectual” further inspired Freire’s vision of educators emerging from within their own communities, grounded in the lived experiences of the people rather than in distant academic institutions. 

Teaching in an Unequal Brazil 

Freire’s early professional work unfolded within a Brazil characterized by stark inequality. Land and wealth were concentrated in the hands of a small elite, while the majority of Brazilians were denied access to education and political participation. In this context, literacy functioned as a tool of exclusion, since the illiterate were barred from voting. 

In response, Freire developed a revolutionary literacy program in the early 1960s. His approach, tested first among sugarcane workers in the state of Pernambuco, was based on dialogue and problem-posing. Rather than teaching vocabulary lists or rote grammar, he began with “generative words” drawn from the learners’ daily lives—terms like land, work, and hunger. These words became entry points for discussion of the learners’ social conditions, transforming literacy into a process of political awakening. As Freire famously stated, his method aimed to teach people not only to “read the word” but to “read the world.” 

This pedagogy was grounded in a radical redefinition of the teacher-student relationship. “The teacher is no longer merely the one who teaches,” he wrote, “but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach.” In this reciprocity lay the foundation of dialogical education, the opposite of what he called the “banking model.” 

Paulo Freire in the first National Seminar on Literacy at Sao Tome and Prinsipe in 1976

Ana Maria Araujo Freire, Instituto Paulo Freire

The “Banking Model” and the Pedagogy of Freedom 

Freire’s critique of the “banking model” remains one of the most enduring elements of his thought. In this model, education is conceived as a process in which the teacher “deposits” information into passive students, who merely receive, memorize, and repeat it. Such pedagogy, he argued, mirrors the structure of oppression itself: it treats learners as objects rather than subjects of their own learning. 

In opposition to this model, Freire proposed a problem-posing pedagogy that engages students as co-investigators in the pursuit of knowledge. This process, based on mutual trust and dialogue, aims to develop conscientização—critical consciousness. For Freire, this meant the capacity to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to act against the oppressive elements of reality. “No one can be authentically human while he prevents others from being so,” he wrote, emphasizing that liberation is a collective process rather than an individual achievement. 

Central to this philosophy is praxis, defined as the unity of reflection and action. Freire insisted that reflection without action is mere verbalism, while action without reflection is activism devoid of direction. Only through praxis can human beings transform both themselves and their world. 

Exile and the Globalization of Freire’s Thought 

The radical implications of Freire’s pedagogy quickly drew the attention—and suspicion—of Brazil’s conservative elite. Following the 1964 military coup, his literacy programs were dismantled, his writings banned, and he was imprisoned for seventy days before going into exile. His subsequent years in Chile, the United States, and later Geneva expanded his perspective and internationalized his mission. 

During his exile, Freire completed Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), synthesizing his experiences in Brazil and Chile into a universal theory of education as liberation. The book became an intellectual touchstone for educators and social movements across Latin America, Africa, and beyond. Working with international organizations such as the World Council of Churches, Freire applied his ideas to adult education and postcolonial literacy campaigns, demonstrating the adaptability of his framework to diverse cultural and political contexts. 

After returning to Brazil in 1980, Freire served as Secretary of Education for São Paulo, where he sought to institutionalize participatory and democratic approaches to schooling. His later work, including Pedagogy of Hope (1994), reaffirmed his faith in dialogue, solidarity, and love as transformative forces in education. “It is because I love people and I love the world,” he wrote, “that I fight so that social justice is implemented before charity.” 

To Paulo Freire, "there isn't more or less knowledge: there are different knowledges" / Photo: Reproducao

Criticism and Debate 

Like all major thinkers, Freire’s ideas have not escaped criticism. Some have argued that his theory, while powerful, remains abstract and lacks concrete pedagogical methodology. The concept of conscientização—central yet elusive—has been variously interpreted as psychological awakening, political radicalization, or ethical responsibility. Others have contended that Freire’s ideas are too closely tied to the specific historical and political conditions of mid-twentieth-century Brazil to be universally applicable. 

Furthermore, Freire’s uneasy relationship with Marxism has invited both critique and admiration. While deeply influenced by Marx’s analysis of oppression, Freire resisted reducing education to class struggle alone. His insistence on love, dialogue, and ethical responsibility placed him closer to a humanist existentialism than to orthodox Marxist determinism. This ideological openness, though sometimes seen as a weakness, allowed his pedagogy to resonate across vastly different contexts—from liberation theology in Latin America to feminist and postcolonial pedagogies elsewhere. 

Paulo Freire's students talk in Angicos (RN) / Paulo Freire Instituto

The Enduring Relevance of Freire’s Vision 

In the contemporary world, saturated with information yet marked by deep inequalities, Freire’s call for critical consciousness remains profoundly relevant. The “banking model” persists not only in traditional classrooms but also in digital culture, where algorithmic consumption replaces dialogue and reflection. Freire’s insistence on dialogue, humility, and shared inquiry challenges educators to move beyond the transmission of facts toward the cultivation of critical and compassionate thinking. 

Moreover, his understanding of education as an act of love and solidarity offers a counterpoint to the instrumental logic that dominates much of today’s educational policy. For Freire, love was not sentimental but revolutionary—a commitment to the dignity and humanity of others. As he wrote, “Dialogue cannot exist without love. Love is at the same time the foundation of dialogue and dialogue itself.” 

More than five decades after its publication, Pedagogy of the Oppressed continues to shape critical pedagogy, decolonial thought, and social activism worldwide. The Paulo Freire Foundation, active in multiple countries, carries forward his mission to connect literacy, empowerment, and social justice. His ideas have informed not only educational reform but also movements for participatory democracy, feminist theory, and environmental justice. 

Freire’s ultimate legacy lies in his unwavering belief in human potential. “To exist, humanly, is to name the world, to change it,” he wrote. Education, in this sense, is the process through which individuals become fully human—aware, engaged, and capable of transforming both their consciousness and their society. 

Paulo Freire’s pedagogy stands as one of the twentieth century’s most profound syntheses of philosophy, politics, and education. Rooted in the experience of poverty yet reaching toward a universal humanism, his thought challenges us to see education not as a neutral activity but as a deeply ethical and political endeavor. Through conscientização and praxis, through dialogue and love, Freire envisioned a world where learning becomes the pathway to liberation. 

His work continues to remind educators, scholars, and citizens alike that the ultimate purpose of education is not the adaptation of human beings to the status quo, but their transformation into agents of freedom. To “read the world,” as Freire taught, is to refuse silence—and to participate, through thought and action, in the ongoing creation of a more just and humane society. 

References (suggested): 

• Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1970. 

• Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1994. 

• Freire, Paulo. Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: Continuum, 1973. 

• Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving. New York: Harper & Row, 1956. 

• Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. New York: International Publishers, 1971. 

Written by Theodoros Dimitrakopoulos