Assignment 1B

Paulo and his work:
Before this assignment I had no idea who Paulo Freire was but now that I have learned more about him I can see why is such a truly inspirational man. Paulo spent his 75 years on earth helping people in need. He was exiled from his home country of Brazil for 15 of those years because of his work among the rural poor. As a young boy his family was affected by the depression and he experienced what it was like to go hungry, that is the point in his life when he decided that he was going to dedicate his life to the struggle against hunger. Paulo spent his whole life with determination, he spent time in jail for doing what he believed in, and worked in Chile for five years as an adult educator. He was also a professor at Harvard University and then shortly after that he became Assistant Secretary of Education for the World Council of Churches in Switzerland and traveled across Asia and Africa lecturing.

Paulo’s Inspirations:
Paulo had many inspirations but as a young man studying law, philosophy and psychology he was reading works of Marx and Catholic intellectuals Maritain, Bernanos, and Mounier. These men were the foundation of influences in his educational philosophy. Also in his later years when he was working in the United States, there was unrest with our country and its involvement in Southeast Asia. Minority spokespersons and war protesters were publishing and teaching and this strongly influenced Paulo. This was an epiphany for him because he realized that the oppression of the less powerful economically and politically were suffering right here in America not just in third world countries.

Paulo’s Legacies:
Paulo was a great inspiration to many people and thats why I think that his biggest legacy is the many lives he touched just with his pure determination to make this world a better place. His books also will teach others now that he is gone, his first one “Education as the Practice of Freedom” and his most famous piece of writing “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” are still read today. Pedagogy of the Oppressed is about how education is a path to permanent liberation and involves to stages. The first stage is that people become aware of their oppression and through praxis transform that state. The second stage builds upon the first and is a permanent process of liberating cultural action. Overall Paulo was a very interesting man to learn about and I am glad we did because he had such an affect on so many people it would be a shame not to appreciate all of his great work.


My Sources:
Lyons, John.Paulo Freire's Educational Theory.
[http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Freire.html Last update: January 04, 2008]

National-Louis University. Paulo Freire.
[http://www3.nl.edu/academics/cas/ace/resources/paulofreire.cfm Last update: May, 01 2005]

Smith, M. K. (1997, 2002) 'Paulo Freire and informal education', the encyclopaedia of informal education. [www.infed.org/thinkers/et-freir.htm. Last update: July 02, 2008]