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Paulo Freire

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Educator

The Resume

    (September 19, 1921-May 2, 1997)
    Born in Recife, Brazil
    Educator / advocate of critical pedagogy (philosophy of education and social movement based on concepts of critical theory)
    Author of ‘Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1967)’ and ‘Conscientizacao (Conscientization, 1975)’
    First ever recipient of the King Baudouin International Development Prize (1980, Outstanding Christian Educator)
    Honorary doctorates include The Open University (1973) and University of Nebraska at Omaha (1996)
    1986 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education
    Honorary degrees include Claremont Graduate University (1992) and University of Illinois at Chicago (1993)
    Died of heart failure in Sao Paulo, age 75
    Website: Freire Institute at freire.org

Why he might be annoying:

    FREH-ree (rhyme with ‘prairie’).
    Before his teens, his middle-class family relocated from the affluent state capital (of Pernambuco, in the northeastern part of Brazil) to a more affordable section (Jaboatao dos Guararapes).
    He listed Charles Darwin and Karl Marx as inspirations.
    In the 1964 Brazilian coup d’etat, he was imprisoned as an exile to the state for ten weeks.
    He died nearly a decade into his second marriage (at least it lasted!).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Having played pick-up sports in poor neighborhoods – a consequence of the family relocating during the Great Depression – he had found his calling (education of the impoverished).
    His first marriage went more than 40 years, to his wife’s death.
    He listed Sigmund Freud, Saul Alinsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Erich Fromm as inspirations.
    He attacked the ‘banking concept of education,’ which revolved around the one-sided teacher-student dichotomy.
    bell hooks listed him as an inspiration.

Credit: Cool It All Right?


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