About Pedagogy of the

Oppressed
To the oppressed,
and to those who sufer with them
and fght at their side
- dedication of Pedagogy of the Oppressed
First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated
and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has
helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the
world. Freires work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and
Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the
underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted
as the norm.
Years before he was invited to leave his homeland after the military coup of 1964,
Freire had begun devoting his life to the advancement of the fortunes of the
impoverished people of Brazil. After his twenty-year exile he moved frst to Chile,
then emigrated to the United States before returning to Brazil. In the course of his
work and travels, and as a result of his studies in the philosophy of education, he
evolved a theory for the education of illiterates, especially adults, based on the
conviction that every human being, no matter how ignorant or submerged in the
culture of silence is capable of looking critically at his world in a dialogical
encounter with others, and that provided with the proper tools for such encounter he
can gradually perceive his personal and social reality and deal critically with it.
When an illiterate peasant participates in this sort of educational experience he
comes to a new awareness of self, a new sense of dignity; he is stirred by new
hope.
We were blind, now our eyes have been opened.
Before this, words meant nothing to me; now they speak to me and I can make
them speak.
I work, and working I transform the world.
As the illiterate person learns and is able to make such statements, his world
becomes radically transformed and he is no longer willing to be a mere object
responding to changes occurring around him. The educated are more likely to
decide to take upon themselves the struggle to change the structures of society that
until now have served to oppress them. This radical self-awareness, however, is not
only the task of the workers, but of persons in all countries, including those who in
our advanced technological society have been or are being programmed into
conformity and thus are essentially part of the culture of silence.
Over one million copies of Pedagogy of the Oppressed have been sold worldwide
since the frst English translation in 1970. It has been used on courses as varied as
Philosophy of Education, Liberation Theology, Introduction to Marxism, Critical
Issues in Contemporary Education, Communication Ethics and Education Policy. It
has been translated into many languages, including German, Italian, Spanish,
Korean, Japanese, and French.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is one of the foundational texts in the feld of critical
pedagogy, which attempts to help students question and challenge domination,
and the beliefs and practices that dominate.