Pedagogy of Freedom - (Critical Perspectives Series: A Book Series Dedicated to Pau) by Paulo Freire (Paperback)

About the Book

This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life-an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but also for all that learn and live.

Book Synopsis

This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life-an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but also for all that learn and live.

Review Quotes

Pedagogy of Freedom is a stirring culmination of Paulo Freire's life work. It is in no way a conclusion or a summation: it is a text that urges its readers to become, to reach towards still untapped possibility. The themes of Freire's earlier writing are extended here into thoughtful explorations of ethics and democracy and the ways in which they may release a sense of agency in the long exploited and cruelly silenced. Moreover, he has new things to say about ideology and freedom in a world marked by a threatening 'globalization' and an unprecedented manipulation by media. As before, he speaks of 'passion, ' 'love, ' and 'caring;' and, each time he does so, it is as if his hand grasps each one of our shoulders, urging us on and on.

Pedagogy of Freedom is almost an elegy. In looping around themes that have run through his work, Freire's book is a reminder of his fundamentally optimistic vision of the radical possibilities for education.

Pedagogy of Freedom, Paulo Freire's last will and testament, is his best book since Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Pedagogy of Freedom is by far one of Paulo Freire's most outstanding contributions to the field of education. His singularly unique capacity to engage the complexity of ethical, political, and economic questions in light of democratic pedagogical concerns provides teachers and educational leaders with much needed insight, as they struggle to navigate the chaos and confusion of contemporary schooling in these difficult and changing times.

This is, together with Profesora Sim, Tia Nao, one of the best two books in Freire's oeuvre since Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It makes the issues in the 1970 classic come alive and is a clarion call for a critically engaged pedagogy of autonomy triggered by epistemological curiosity.

At the threshold of the twenty-first century, we face the need to learn a new and more communicative way of constructing educational theory. With Pedagogy of Freedom, Freire contributes a unique guide to such a mission. . . . While social sciences are witnessing the revival of the idea of deliberative democracy (Elster, 1988), as well as the possibility of transforming social positions through dialogue (Giddens, 1994), we now have a book that discusses how to develop such dialogic democracy in education. In Pedagogy of Freedom, Freire defends a universal human ethic that extends not only to schools but also to teachers' training.

Braiding bold vision with precision, Freire, in his brilliance, allows us to imagine a tomorrow of democracy and freedom. Insisting on the 'incompleteness' of us all and on a 'dreamer's right to dream, ' Pedagogy of Freedom reminds us that our work is never done; that change is always possible, always essential, always unfinished.

Paulo Freire is one of the ideological giants. . . . In this book, Freire remains passionately idealistic and inspirational, without denying the complexity of the work or the difficulty of creating real change. It is one of the rare tomes to which one can return again and again...

This book is a repository of Freire's wisdom, the wisdom that informs his philosophy of education and his educational approach. . . . I would recommend this one as very important.

With Pedagogy of Freedom, Paulo Freire enriches the dialogical perspectives with a call for universal ethics that establishes a better foundation for education in the next century.

About the Author

The late Paulo Freire of Brazil-teacher, philosopher, and activist-is widely regarded in the U.S. and elsewhere as one of the most influential educators of the 20th century. He is the author of more than 20 books, which have been translated and sold widely throughout the world. Among his many books are the classic Pedagogy of the Oppressed (ISBN 0-8264-0611-4) and Letters to Christina (ISBN 0-4159-1097-8).