Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:16:46.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Paulo Freire on Democratic Education

from Part One - Historical Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

Julian Culp
Affiliation:
The American University of Paris, France
Johannes Drerup
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
Douglas Yacek
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
Get access

Summary

The work of Paulo Freire has had an enduring impact on the development of progressive, democratic pedagogies around the world. Freire’s ideas on democracy emerged from his experiences with impoverished communities in Brazil in the 1950s and 1960s. For Freire, democratic education is a part of the process of humanization: becoming more fully human through transformative, critical, dialogical reflection and action. From a Freirean perspective, democracy is not just a form of government but a mode of being: a distinctive approach to living, with others, in a world that is always dynamically in the making. Democratic life demands a willingness to live uncertainties and an acknowledgment of our incompleteness. Freire delineates a number of key democratic virtues, including humility, openness, tolerance, and a willingness to listen. He argues against both authoritarian and “anything goes” pedagogical orientations. This chapter discusses Freire’s views on democracy and education in the light of his wider ontological, epistemological, and ethical position, and considers the ongoing significance of his ideas in the twenty-first century.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aronowitz, S. (1993). Paulo Freire’s radical democratic humanism. In McLaren, P. & Leonard, P., eds., Paulo Freire: A critical encounter. London: Routledge, pp. 824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, S. (2020). Paulo Freire in a hall of mirrors. Educational Theory, 70(2), 151–69.Google Scholar
Beckett, K. (2018). John Dewey’s conception of education: Finding common ground with R. S. Peters & Paulo Freire. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 50(4), 380–89.Google Scholar
Bingham, C. (2016). Against educational humanism: Rethinking spectatorship in Dewey and Freire. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 35, 181–93.Google Scholar
Chambers, D. W. (2019). Is Freire incoherent? Reconciling directiveness and dialogue in Freirean pedagogy. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 53(1), 2147.Google Scholar
Chen, R. H. (2016). Freire and a pedagogy of suffering: A moral ontology. In Peters, M. A., ed., Encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory. Singapore: Springer, pp. 866–70.Google Scholar
Escobar, M., Fernandez, A. L., Guevara-Niebla, G., & Freire, P. (1994). Paulo Freire on higher education: A dialogue at the National University of Mexico. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Espinoza, O. (2017). Paulo Freire’s ideas as an alternative to higher education neoliberal reforms in Latin America. Journal of Moral Education, 46(4), 435–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, B., Angel, M. C. N., & Vahl, M. (2017). Hope and utopia in “post-truth” times: A Freirean approach. Revista Brasileira de Alfabetização – ABAlf, 1(6), 8197.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1972a). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1972b). Cultural action for freedom. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1976). Education: The practice of freedom. London: Writers and Readers.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1978). Pedagogy in process: The letters to Guinea-Bissau. London: Writers and Readers.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1985). The politics of education. London: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1987). Letter to North-American teachers. In Shor, I., ed., Freire for the classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, pp. 211–14.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the city. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1996). Letters to Cristina: Reflections on my life and work. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1997a). Pedagogy of the heart. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1997b). A response. In Freire, P., Fraser, J. W., Macedo, D., McKinnon, T. & Stokes, W. T., eds., Mentoring the mentor: A critical dialogue with Paulo Freire. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 303–29.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1998a). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1998b). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (1998c). Politics and education. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Latin American Center Publications.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (2004). Pedagogy of indignation. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.Google Scholar
Freire, P. (2007). Daring to dream. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Faundez, A. (1989). Learning to question: A pedagogy of liberation. Geneva: World Council of Churches.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1993). A dialogue with Paulo Freire. In McLaren, P. & Leonard, P., eds., Paulo Freire: A critical encounter. London: Routledge, pp. 169–76.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1995). A dialogue: Culture, language, and race. Harvard Educational Review, 65(3), 377402.Google Scholar
Freire, P., & Shor, I. (1987). A pedagogy for liberation. London: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Guilherme, A., & de Freitas, A. L. S. (2017). “Happiness education”: A pedagogical-political commitment. Policy Futures in Education, 15(1), 619.Google Scholar
Horton, M., & Freire, P. (1990). We make the road by walking: Conversations on education and social change. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Kee, J. C., & Carr-Chellman, D. J. (2019). Paulo Freire, critical literacy, and Indigenous resistance. Educational Studies, 55(1), 89103.Google Scholar
Kirylo, J. D. (Ed.) (2020). Reinventing pedagogy of the oppressed: Contemporary critical perspectives. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Mayo, P. (1999). Gramsci, Freire and adult education: Possibilities for transformative action. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Nieto Ángel, M. C., Maciel, Vahl M., & Farrell, B. (2020). Critical pedagogy, dialogue and tolerance: A learning to disagree framework. In Macrine, S. L., ed., Critical pedagogy in uncertain times: Hope and possibilities. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 139–58.Google Scholar
O’Cadiz, M. D. P., Wong, L., & Torres, C. A. (1998). Education and democracy: Paulo Freire, social movements and educational reform in Sao Paulo. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Peters, M. A., & Roberts, P. (2011). The virtues of openness: Education, science, and scholarship in the digital age. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.Google Scholar
Roberts, P. (2000). Education, literacy, and humanization: Exploring the work of Paulo Freire. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.Google Scholar
Roberts, P. (2010). Paulo Freire in the 21st century: Education, dialogue and transformation. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.Google Scholar
Roberts, P. (2016). Happiness, hope, and despair: Rethinking the role of education. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Roberts, P. (2022). Paulo Freire: Philosophy, pedagogy, and practice. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Roberts, P., & Freeman-Moir, J. (2013). Better worlds: Education, art, and utopia. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Rozas Gomez, C. (2007). The possibility of justice: The work of Paulo Freire and difference. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 26, 561–70.Google Scholar
Schugurensky, D. (2011). Paulo Freire. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Suissa, J. (2017). Pedagogies of indignation and the lives of others. Policy Futures in Education, 15(7–8), 874–90.Google Scholar
Tan, C. (2018a). Wither teacher-directed learning? Freirean and Confucian insights. The Educational Forum, 82(4), 461–74.Google Scholar
Tan, C. (2018b). To be more fully human: Freire and Confucius. Oxford Review of Education, 44(4), 370–82.Google Scholar
Tiainen, K., Leiviskä, A., & Brunila, K. (2019). Democratic education for hope: Contesting the neoliberal common sense. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 38, 641–55.Google Scholar
Todd, S. (2018). Culturally reimagining education: Publicity, aesthetics and socially engaged art practice. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 50(10), 970–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toh, G. (2018). Anatomizing and extrapolating “Do not publish” as oppression, silencing, and denial. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 15(4), 258–81.Google Scholar
Vahl, M. M., Arriada, E., & Nogueira, G. M. (2021). Autoritarismo e esperança: Costurando fios entre Paulo Freire e José Cardoso Piresmônica. Revista Práxis Educacional, 17(47), 120.Google Scholar
Veugelers, W. (2017). The moral in Paulo Freire’s educational work: What moral education can learn from Paulo Freire. Journal of Moral Education, 46(4), 412–21.Google Scholar
Weiler, K. (1991). Paulo Freire and a feminist pedagogy of difference. Harvard Educational Review, 61(4), 449–74.Google Scholar
Weiner, E. J. (2003). Secretary Paulo Freire and the democratization of power: Toward a theory of transformative leadership. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 35(1), 89106.Google Scholar
Wilcock, N. (2020). The incoherence of the interactional and the institutional within Freire’s politico-educational project. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 39(4), 399–14.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×